Guys,

I just took my car to acura dealer to have it aligned. The car was pulling to the left. So Acura did the alignment (see attached picture) but now, the car will only go straight if I tilt the steering wheel slightly to the right. If I keep it straight, it will go to the left.
What is the cause of this? I'm gonna take it back to them to see what they say about this. But the printout seems pretty much in spec to me.

Thank you,

 

It could be your tires.

 

thought as much, so before I went to the dealer, I had both front tires balanced at firestone. I have lifetime balancing with them when I bought brand new tires from them just half a year ago.

 

I wish you would've rebalanced all 4 wheels, and rotated them, too. Also, try to set your tire pressures after your vehicle has been sitting for at least 3 hours. Then after all of that, try driving on an even road.

 

the reason why I didn't balance all of them was because I only replaced the 2 front tires when one of them blew up. So I didn't have coverage on the rear tires. When I took the car to the dealership, I had them do a complete inspection of the car. It's part of their deal when I bought it from them that they'd do it annually. So they inspected everything, checked off all the parts. Yea, there's a part that we can't totally trust that they do an exhaustive inspection. But when they did the alignment, they also adjusted tire pressures too. So I don't know why this happens

 

have you had the car since new? if your tires are fine and the car is alligned to spec and it still pulls, something on the suspension is bent. LCA is my guess. did you hit something like a curb?

 

no, I bought it used last year. I ran over a pothole last week though. But when Acura inspected the car and lower suspension, they found no damage. That's just weird about this.
Quote from the inspection checklist, these 2 are in satisfactory condition:
"Inspect suspension components and steering gear components for damage or leaks" + "Inspect drive axle boots for cracks or tears:

 

when tires wear unevenly, they can cause quite a bit of pull. to know for sure, swap the front left and right with each other and see if it changes. if your tires are directional, then swap front and back for both sides

 

Just to clear up your description.

Seems like you're stating the car drifts left when your hands are on the steering wheel and the steering wheel is centered, correct?

Does the car go straight if your hands are off the wheel, even if the steering wheel is tilted right?

If both above are correct, the dealer needs to level the steering wheel, meaning they will need to put it back up on the alignment rack and adjust the tie rod ends on both sides. If the job was done properly, the wheel should have been level when the job was done.

 

Exactly

 

You should've replaced all 4 tires from the beginning because now the front tires most likely don't match the rear tires. Plus idk why you would wait 6 months after getting tires to do the alignment, you're supposed to do it right after getting the new tires installed.

 

You probably already considered this but the crown of the road can mimic a pulling sensation.

 

guys, thank you for the responses. Let me reiterate my statement. So I commute around 100 miles a day. I know the road well and which part of it will cause the pulling sensation. But now, the car is pulling no matter what regardless of where I go.
My issue is that when driving, I have to constantly keep the steering wheel slightly to the right, meaning it is not centered. By doing that, the car will go straight. When I release the steering wheel, and it is returned to center position, the car will start going left.
Originally, my 4 tires were brand new, but one day one of them was punctured beyond repair. So I replaced both front tires with 2 new ones as to match them. 2 front tires are different from rear tires. Tread lives on four are about equal. Attached you will see my alignment (corrected link) and the inspection checklist with tire tread wear and suspension.

 

^on my o2 CLS i hit a pothole hard enough to bubble the tire and bend the rim and blow out the lower ball joint. Allignment was not affected. When I curbed the car, allignment was affected so that is why I asked you if the car hit something...

ended causing 4.8K in damage to the car and they ultimately ended up replacing the LCA on the passenger side when it would not allign. that was 40K miles ago and I have not had any problems since.

 

damn, nearly 5 grand damage for a pot hole? I'm hoping for the best here man. I hit the pothole with my front passenger tire, and that one was checked and balanced. No apparent damage. LCA may be bent in my case, I'm not sure. But I've scheduled to take it back to the dealer for a second inspection. But a new LCA is going around for like 300 right? That's still a tons of money so I hope it's not the case.

 

You may have a bent subframe also. My TL is used and the previous owner hit a curb and bent the front LCA and subframe on the passenger side. A local frame specialist should be able to diagnose and fix it for <$500.

 

no 4.8K when I curbed the car avoiding another driver

 

I took it to the dealer again. They did the alignment once more. Everything appears to be in-spec. But this time, the steering wheel is more messed up than before. Like I said, I had to slightly tilt the steering wheel to the right i.e the volume control, channel control side of the wheel is slightly up against the other side. And now after the second alignment, I have to tilt it way more toward the right. Meaning the angle of the steering wheel has to be higher than before to keep the car straight. Before the alignments, the steering wheel was centered.
The "master technician" at the dealer actually took the car for spin and said it was slightly off-center but was safe to drive. ANd they said that it was because of the tires not their service. I decided to take the car back to firestone where I bought the tires from just to have them check it out. But upon my 50 miles drive, it became more apparent that the car is not safe to drive. If I relax my hands on the steering wheel for a second, it will automatically center itself, which means the car will go left. So I have to constantly use force to keep it at the off-center angle. DId the dealer fuck up on this?