I have a Caliber sxt variable transmission that.

DAISY MAE

MEMBER
2007 DODGE CALIBER
10,000 MILES

I have a caliber sxt variable transmission that pulls to the right with acceleration and to the left when decelerating. We took it to our mechanic who checked the entire front end and found nothing. He said it was probably a transmission problem. Have you ever heard of this?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

Nope. There's two things that commonly cause this. Worn control arm bushings allow the alignment to change, especially on front-wheel-drive cars like yours, between braking and accelerating. Those bushings seem to be causing more trouble on GM cars, but they can wear on any car with high mileage.

It is more likely you have a tire pull and the way we identify that is by driving it exactly like you described. To verify it, switch the two front tires side-to-side. Sometimes it will still pull the same way. Sometimes it will go straight. But if you find it pulls the other way, it's tire-related. Either way, switch the two left side tires and drive it. If nothing changes, switch the two right side tires and try it again. When the pull goes away or changes, it is because of one of the tires you just moved.