Spongy brakes?

[rjd2]

Hi all-as always, thanks so much for the great resource here! You guys are a fabulous source of information!!

So I've been getting my Delorean out and on the road this season, now that it got warm, and I've got a strange problem: mushy, spongy response on the brake pedal. At ~25mph, if i stomp the brake pedal once, and hold it, the pedal will depress entirely, and the car will take WAY too long to come to a stop; I'd guess 15-30ft or so. Definitely not normal. If I "prime" the brakes, i.e. pump them 1-2 times right before I go to actually stop, I get a "normal" feel at the pedal, but it's still not a normal stopping time. Much better than a singular depression of the pedal, but not what it was last year.

I checked my brake fluid resorvoir, and it was low, so I topped it off. I pulled all 4 wheels, and inspected my pads, rotors, calipers-everything visually looks great. If I do have a leak in the brake line, it's got to be very slow-the resorvoir is at the same level it was a week ago when I topped it off, and there's nothing on the garage floor.

Any ideas on where I should start next? Does this sound like air in the brake line? Thanks for the help!

[Josh]

-Ensure there are no leaks on any of the brake lines. check all the connections
-Make sure your fluid is in good condition (not brown)
-Then bleed your brakes.

[KTwaffles02]

Start with exactly what Josh said.. However, the brake master cylinders are common for going bad after this many years, I just had to replace mine as it was doing pretty much the exact same thing as yours. New master and all is good.

[sdg3205]

Did the level in the reservoir get low enough to allow air into the master?

Go with what Josh said. Bleeding is cheap. If that doesn't solve it the master is probably going. Brakes don't typically get soft out of the blue unless a part is failing. The soft lines can cause problems, but its more likely the master.