I jus bought a 1990 N/A and there is no pressure in the brake pedal at all. I have to consistently pump it so it can build but it will go away once i stop. I heard of brake problems with this car before but i would like to know if someone has had this same issue and knows what to do or if someone could possibly point me in the right direction.

 

Have you checked the fluid level? My initial thought would be a leak somewhere, small enough to allow for temporary pressure build up. If you don't notice any change in the fluid level I would bleed the brakes and see what happens from there.

 

Brake Fluid is very corrosive, will strip paint right off the fire wall and fenders. You either have a loose fitting or a hole somewhere. If you have a clean piece of cardboard, or maybe get a sheet of butchers paper, lay it down in your driveway or garage and park over it. Make sure you top off your reservoir, pump the breaks good and see if you can get the pedal to go down, the fluid will drain out somewhere, hopefully that will help you trace it down. If you can jack the car up and just visually inspect the brakes and lines you should be able to spot the mess. For the fittings if you don't have one you will need a 10mm fitting wrench. I found a really nice 10 -12mm one at Napa, Carlyle/ Napa brand. Helps to avoid stripping and rounding Nut.

 

I just got done with redoing the brakes on my car after sitting for a while. When I went to bleed the brakes I couldn't get a pedal because my master cylinder was junk.. just a thought

 

Pump the brakes until you have firm pressure and then hold the brake pedal steady. If pressure holds, then you likely do not have a leak but a bad master cylinder. If pressure doesn't hold, then you do have an active leak which may still involve the master cylinder. I don't think you have a split in the brake line tubing because it's almost impossible to build any pressure when the metal lines leak.

I hate to sound preachy, but brakes are something you do not want to scrimp on. Given the jaded history of the brakes on this car, I would replace the master cylinder, all the slaves, and the hoses connected to the slaves. These are all wear components. Depending on your budget, you can either buy new or remanufactured parts. Rebuild kits for the calipers are also available. I had this very same problem on the Z31 I obtained about a year ago. Like JackTfromMA, my master cylinder was crap. I rebuilt my front calibers, but found remans were a cost effective solution for the rear calibers given the complicated mechanism for the emergency brake. I put in an oem master cylinder.

Good luck.