Automotive Forums  Where Car Enthusiasts Go to Discuss Cars Online

I have a 2003 jeep cherokee limited that pulls to the left in the first one mile of driving then corrects itself and rides fine from then on.  I have checked the bushings and hubs and stabilizer shock.  I don't find any worn parts or loosness.  But in the the first mile the car will pull to the left and then straighten out almost like the wheels are going in different directions.  

jack up both front wheels with a cold motor..   start the engine with the wheels in the air.. let go of the steering wheel .. see if the rack and pinion or steering box causes the wheels to turn to one side..

you could also have a parking brake that is failing to release properly..

if the steering wheel does not turn on its own...

try having somebody spin the tires...   see if they are free to spin..  have them depress the brake and release it.. see how fast they are released..

that jeep might have antilock brakes..    might also have traction control or stability control...   you can flip the key ON 3 times in under 10 seconds.. without starting the engine and most trouble codes will show up on the odometer display below the speedometer.. post any of those numbers you get..  

We lifted the front tires and started the car.  The steering did not turn to the side.  It stayed dead center.

As for the brakes.  We were able to turn the wheels after each brake pump.  It release without delay.


Also, the 3 turns of the ignition.  The only thing it displayed is "donE".

We did notice that when we turn off the car, we hear a pressure release in the dash.  I assume it is all the vacuum lines for the air and heat directionals.  But is there some other vacuum lines on the car that take time to pressurize is why the wheel pulling to the side goes away after a few minutes?  

were you able to jack up the rear wheels and check them also...

when the brake pedal is pumped and released....

and when the parking brake is released..

a hanging up brake caliper.. a brake hose failing internally..  the antilock control valve hanging up and not releasing the brakes to one wheel..

have you had your brake fluid changed recently??  

had brake pads wear unevenly???   possibly caused by a rusty caliper slide..   the calipers have to be free to slide.. and lubed with proper caliper lube.. NOT dielectric tune up grease...     Silglide..  or white lithium grease..


is your jeep equipped with antilocks and stability controls???   if so... after having a professional BRAKE mechanic examine the brake system. after a test drive..    even a test drive with an advanced scan tool hooked up to observe and record the wheel speed sensor data stream..

rusty tone wheels can create false readings..   the tone wheels have teeth in them..  as they rotate under the magnetic field of the sensor.. they retain a small amount of magnetism.. this residual magnetic field passes the sensor and voltage is created..   the wheels are all creating the same sensor voltage on different wheels..  if one is lower than the others.. or higher than the others.. it will set up interesting problems..

steel and iron fragments on the wheel speed sensor ends can throw off the reading..

there will also be a steering wheel position sensor..  actually sort of a motion sensor.. lets the computer know what you are doing with the steering wheel..   this is part of the antilock and of the stability control system..

all of these sensors are viewable with an advanced scan tool.. not the normal 130 to 300 buck versions.. something more like the OTC 3499N and above.. those start at about 500 bucks.. and are a full fledged scan tool.. not just an OBD2 generic scan tool.. there is a HUGE difference...   true professional scan tools start at around 2 grand and top out well over 10 grand..   finding someone who knows how to read and diagnose the lines of data without first changing hundreds of dollars in parts...

if you live in a large city..  and are a AAA member.. they have some offices with diagnostic centers.. where they will examine your car and point out any problems..

checking the TSB titles over at alldatadiy.com   is a good thing also..  

Thank you for your help.  Looks like I have a lot of homework to do.  I am going to work on this in the next few days and let you know how it goes.

Thank you again.