Wheel Bearing Question

Hi,
I have a 2016 Dart. I did the brakes (pads and rotors) in December 2020, no issues. Recently took the car in and had new tires put on at the dealership. Got the car back, drove it less than 100 miles, and the "brake fluid low" light came on in the dash. I checked the reservoir, and sure enough, it was low on fluid. I didn't see any leaks, so I topped it off, drove it some more, and it went down again. Again checked driveway for leaks, etc. but found nothing. I put a little more fluid in, have driven it a few times, and checked it every day, it seems like a very slow leak, but I can see the level going down a little at a time.
I'm thinking that maybe I have a wheel bearing that is bad (washed the car a month ago, let it sit a few days before driving it, and had a lot of noise everytime I went to stop, initially figured it was just some surface rust that accumulated on the brakes that needed knocked off) but the more I think about that situation, and now the low brake fluid, maybe I do have a bad wheel bearing?
My question, with having done the brakes not quite a year ago (I've put less than 5k miles on the car between now and then), do I need to do brakes and or rotors if I replace the wheel bearings? What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

pretty sure one is not causing the other . . . . need to trace the leak from the master cylinder . . . maybe it is leaking past the master cylinder seal into the power booster ?? maybe check the vacuum hose to see if there is brake fluid in there ??? Pretty simple system (relatively), brakes - if master cylinder is not holding fluid, there is a leak in the system "somewhere" . . . maybe something with the ABS unit ?? . . . no way wheel bearings are going to cause master cylinder fluid level to drop . . . .

Right. Bad bearings, very sloppy, can cause a soft pedal as the rotor push piston back. But that's not a fluid leak.

I had a Dart. IIRC, there was a recall because something could suck brake fluid out of the master through the motor. Was your car checked?

Slantzilla, this might be what you were talking about. From what I can tell, this is 2013-14's, mine is a 2016. Not to say it can't be the same / similar issue. Several links in the article I've posted..

https://www.dodge-dart.org/threads/brake-fluid-level-low-slave-cylinder.35289/

I'll check the vacuum hose this weekend and report back. Thank you to everyone who has replied so far!

Unfortunately, there is a reason the Dart is/was not a popular car. Maybe multiple reasons.

It's crazy, I bought it as a "beater" initially, and I've made the comment to several people about how much more I like it than I originally thought I would. I mean it's a turd for sure, I have a 2.0L 6 speed, but it's comfortable, and it was one of 3 options (Challenger, Dart, Viper) in 2016 that Mopar offered with a manual transmission, and I already had a challenger. I knew going in that it was a "cheap" or "cheaply made" car, but I mean honestly, everything today is cheap / plastic, and not made to last.

The new Darts are not much car. I have bought one or two for resale, but won't again. There is a reason that Dodge dropped them rather quickly from the line.

As a side note, I will buy aftermarket brake rotors only when all else fails. They have quite a variation of quality and finish. Mostly not good. A good many need turned right out of the box and warp more readily than their O.E counterparts. Turning the originals (when possible) or finding usable original ones in the yards is the route we take.

No need to replace brakes with a wheel bearing change. I had to do a DS wheel bearing on my 16 last year and it was a piece of cake. The only thing I had to borrow from a neighbor was the socket to remove the axle shaft nut. Everything else was straight forward. My 16 has been a great car.

Interesting...I had the opposite with my DD GM product. Factory rotors were junk in less than 30K and the aftermarket Chinese knock-offs have been great. I am on my 4th set, but 290K miles will do that (plus I'm not exactly easy on brakes, LOL)

I have a 2014 Dart 2.4 6 speed which I bought new and now has 104,000 miles.
It’s been a good reliable car, still looks new after 7 years of daily driving here in the rust belt. At this point I’d say it doesn’t owe me anything. I intend to keep it as my beater until it drops so I can keep my new Ram out of the salt.
Sorry some don’t like them, naysayers can enjoy their wonderful Hyundai’s I guess while I drive around in my crappy Mopar!
The hydraulic clutch system uses the brake master cylinder reservoir for its fluid supply, so if the brake system shows no evidence of leaks, I’d check the line from the clutch master cylinder to the clutch slave, and those 2 cylinders for evidence of being the source of your fluid loss.

I am familiar with O.E. rotors failing. Google is your friend in these cases. The O.E.s use imported pieces too, obviously. And they occasionally have problems with them. But usually, the O.E. pieces are better than the parts store pieces. Not always, but usually. It is always best to Google particular problems to see if there is a wider problem. More information makes for better decisions.

Factory rotors are junk. Even the vaunted Toyotas don’t have good ones. Years ago I simply walked into car quest and asked for the Canada made rotor for whatever I had at the time and that was the end of the issue. Well offshoring took care of that good solution. After years of frustration, I have settled on two options. EBC made in England and some even are made in the USA like they should be. You have to plan ahead and even if you do it can be hard to get them in your hands.

If I can’t wait for those, powerstop Chinese has been ok. It’s just I detest supporting China and do my best to shun them and their bs.

This year we cut it close, but the boat from England finally made it the week things were getting ugly on a car. I estimated maybe 3 days left before it had to be parked. Glad it made it, the EBC stuff has been awesome again.

I can't agree with that broad of a statement. I have seen too many O.E. rotors last the life of the vehicle given that no pads are worn to metal and maybe a turn or two. We just sold a Town and Country that had 240,000 miles and still had the original rotors. Had been turned once, maybe twice, I don't remember. It was one of our work vans we have had for over a decade.

Yes, some O.E rotors are crap, as bad as or worse than parts store pieces. But it is simply not true that they are all 'junk'.

Here in our town, you can't get drums or rotors turned, anywhere. Everyone got rid the the lathes to turn the drums and rotors about 5 years ago.

That was probably for the better though. The last pair of rotors I had turned ended up being turned very poorly ( they were good, I just wanted them cleaned up a little). That left me with two warped rotors that cost $25 each to turn (on $30 each replacement made in the USA rotors). The quality of a turned drum or rotor has a lot to do with the condition of the machine doing the cutting, and the person operating the machine. Equipment in poor condition and/or a poorly trained operator does not make a good brake turning experience. Gene

Years and years ago when I was working in a shop, I learnt how to use the lathe to turn drums & rotors. I always only took off the least amount to clean things up . . . course, that was when drums and rotors had lots of meat to them and you could turn them a couple times . . . couple of machines I kinda wished I had bought at swap meets - brake lathe, and distributor machine . . . . maybe an old tire machine & balancer too . . . but then again, the shop at home barely keeps the cars in them, let alone all these machine wishes . . . .

We still have a place or two here that turn rotors. But we bought our own brake lathe so that we can control the quality because of issues like the ones you bring up. We occasionally turn rotors for people we know, but by and large, the lathe is for our own stuff. We have had to turn new, out-of-the-box rotors that were not available to us any other way.

And we have a tire changer and a balancer for the same reasons.

The last time I took the Ramcharger rotors in to be turned they'd been new on the previous brake job, so only one set of pads wore on them, no gouges. I was told they were too thin to turn so bought new ones again. Just for sh*ts and giggles I asked them to mic the new rotors, they were .001 ~ 0015 over MINIMUM turning thickness. Just normal wear from one set of pads makes them ineligible to be turned. So either don't bother to turn them or just plan on new ones every brake job. At least the chinesium rotors are affordable, especially considering you're not paying $20 ea. (It thnk it was $12 ~ 10 years ago?) to turn the old ones. It's no wonder turning drums and rotors is a dying thing.

turning rotors and drums on a REAL lathe produces way better results than brake lathes do.
i have been doing my own for years now, but not everyone has their own machinist equipment.
just something that has worked out for me.

Most manufacturers allow .001" to .002" run out on rotor friction surfaces. Quality brake lathes in good condition can meet that. What improvement could be achieved by getting better than that? On most daily driver type vehicles, by the time they need brakes, there is more play in the system than the .001" or .002" run out allowed on the rotors.

I wonder if our current "supply situation" is going to impact the availability and cost of the replace the rotors and drums vs resurfacing movement?. There was a time when usable items were refurbished rather than replaced. I think it was a better time IMO.
BTW I just sold my brake lathe as I am in the process of downsizing and semi-retiring. Interesting to me any way was that it was advertised for 3+ weeks and only 1 response from a guy in Maryland and he wants to have it shipped .
While he was donking around, all of a sudden I get 5calls in one day. One guy shows up in 15 minutes lays cash down and says I'll make arrangements to pick it up.OK
Then the guy in Maryland gets all pizzy. I said no deposit no hold, A man showed up with cash and said he would move it. Works for me

I haven’t heard anybody else talking up factory junk. I do know putting quality parts on ends the warped rotor issue. Both my new and used vehicles, going all the way back to when I started driving. Guys pulling stuff from junkyards are looking to save a buck and aren’t so concerned.

Front rotors on it no, but I finally had to replace the rear drums on my 98 Saturn work car after around 350,000 miles. MY parents bought it new and sold it to me so I know the whole history.

THIS ^ SO MUCH THIS.

After spending many years in the business, I'm appalled by how many "professional " brake guys can't turn a rotor or drum.

To Xs point, if you need to turn, go to a real machine shop.

Your life must be so simple. Everything is 'one size fits all'.

We try to use the best affordable parts that we can. Sometimes that is new aftermarket. And sometimes that is used O.E. Neither has a lock on the best. We frequently use used O.E. parts. And despite your opinion, it usually has much more to do with quality than it does with cost. Time is money and it takes much more time to locate good used parts than it does to have the local AutoZone deliver something. But what the parts store offers can be a crap shoot. And there are times when O.E. parts are crap and the aftermarket steps up and improves them. It takes time and effort to sort it out. I am sure that we are not always able to select the best part possible. But, at least we try.

It is not surprising that you 'haven’t heard anybody else talking up factory junk' even though there is at least one other post listing the huge mileage they got out of their O.E. rotors. It doesn't fit with your opinion so you ignore it. Keeps your life simple, doesn't it?

My 2019 work truck has 106k miles on it. Only things replaced, aside from wiper blades, oil and filters, that it left the factory with is the tires and I got 95k out of them.

Still has the factory rotors, pads, shocks, etc. I don't ever recall having an issue using factory parts.

Now some of the lights on the HVAC controls need replaced, but that's not really an issue for me.

very true. however, [around here at least] in a 20 mile radius, IF you can find someone to turn a drum or rotor, all you will find is "quality" machines turned into junk by incompetent or just lazy operators, that never do even the slightest maintenance to the machine or tooling. also, the more ridged the fixturing, the better the job.
my setup is fixtured as it would be on the vehicle, torqued to the wheel specs. when it is returned to the vehicle, it returns/conforms to the way it was machined, a much better job than your average brake lathe can produce.
this is just how i do things. i know most do not have the equipment i have available, nor the desire/time needed to do this, so your results will certainly vary.

I’ve dealt with guys like you on here for over two decades now. I posted my experience and you flew off the handle because you “know better.” I don’t care what other guys are running, it won’t change what I’ve found that works. I’m not into having brake shake, in the least. So I want the best possible part. I’m sure many wouldn’t think of changing rotors that are just slightly off. I’d probably drive their vehicle 5 miles and say it needs a brake job. They can run it on out to however many miles they are comfortable with. It’s personal preference and just like your whining here about my post that didn’t even quote you, it’s easier to let it go at that.

I didn’t post that you could just walk into a store and get the ones I’ve settled on. Nice straw man. You have to plan ahead to get the EBC and powerstops, at least around here. Parts store shelf junk has nothing to do with what I said.

Maybe you should just accept my opinion and simplify your life.

Have you noticed that others have posted positive experiences with O.E. rotors, too? Are you asking yourself; how is that even possible?

My 92 truck is running on junk rotors and drums at 170k.

It's true that in the 90s vintage GM vehicles, they did have troubles with the metallurgy of their rotors. They seem to have fixed that now.

I prefer running on rotors when possible, I true them and clean on my lathe. If I need new, my current goto are Centric premium.