HSB

I just had the car aligned and as the mechanic was pulling up I couldn't help noticing the piece of plastic sticking out below the spoiler. Well you guessed it, a broken deflector. I had noticed a howling sound from the back of the car recently, usually at highway speeds.
I called the local dealer and amazingly they had one. I rushed down to the dealer and put down my $141.31 down on the counter and thanked the gentleman for the corrugated piece of plastic. While inspecting the part another gentleman with a 90 Carrera walks in and asks me what I have in my hands and I proceed to tell him. I jokingly ask him if he has checked his spoiler deflector lately. He says no ,so we walk out and look at his car; you guessed it his was broken.
The gentleman walks back in and puts his $ 141.31 on the counter and orders one-- I guess I bought the last one in stock. The parts man tells me that this piece is such a hotseller that the actually stock it!
Have you checked yourspoiler deflector lately??

springer3

Mine seems to be fine. I will treat it like gold in the future. Any preservation tips now that you see the failure mode?

HSB

Unfortunately it has a couple of thermally treated segments( these act as hinges) that break away after so many up and down cycles.It's sort of like taking a credit card and bending it back and forth a few times . It eventually just breaks. I could see no way to repair it and I certainly would not buy a used one.

garrett376

That's why I try really hard to stay at about 45mph during my commute to work!!! I hit lots of stop lights after half-mile segments, and get passed by SUV's driving like the scene from Meet the Parents movie. I could have it go up and down about 10 times on the way to the office in the morning if I didn't pay attention to my speed! It's like a game each time I drive! Once I am "committed" - meaning the spoiler is up - I better have at least several blocks to go before I hit that darn red light!!!

I was actually thinking if there would be a way to reprogram the control unit so it would go up at 70mph like the newer cars. Now that would be nice!

Don't you love these cars??

Adrian

If you had a 1989 or 1990 model year version you could probably do this but the 1991 and up will be much harder.
Ciao,
Adrian
964C4

John Boggiano

I actually have one on order right now.

My last one lasted nine years and about 50k miles.

springer3

Ouch! I routinely bump quickly up to 47 even in a 35 zone just to get the spoiler extended. If this is a simple fatigue failure, I need to modify my driving habits, or put a kill switch on the spoiler. Maybe I will just drive and have fun and simply fix the thing when it breaks.

The controller on my 92 does appear to look at the pulse signal from the road speed sensor. Pity the system it is not analog, because it would be simple to change a resister and reset the trigger point.

Anyone know an enterprising double-E willing to modify the controller? Just tell any real engineer it can't be done, and watch heaven and earth move while proving you wrong. I have most of the schematic drawn out to troubleshoot my failure. I have let the smoke out of too many chips, and learned better than to play design engineer on expensive parts.

HSB

I think I would just use it and replace it when it fails. Mine lasted 59K miles.

jimq

Seems i paid between $70-$80 a couple of months ago mail order at Sunset Porsche for the part. The price at my dealer here was $121 at the time. Should have bought 2 of them!

Ruairidh

I think the 993 board was recently talking about a unit (possibly RUF) which did just that. Only issue was it was about $300 IIRC.

Drew_K

I recently purchased a spoiler wall from Sunset Porsche as well. The price was well under $100 ($70?).

WilsonAnderson

RennListers,

I have recently broken my spoiler deflector as well.

What impact will having the top inch or the deflector broken, and now removed from the vehicle?

When it riped at the flex joint, the broken peice of plastic was blowing around in the wind scratching the paint, and creating a wide arch across the the lower portion of the engine lid. Damn newar cried.

I have been runing without any noticable problems.

Is this cosmetic, or will it truly affect handling. This is my daily driver that I do not push to ten/tenths very often unlike most everyone else.. I do not go to the track.

I would rather not drop the 120.00 if it is cosmetic, but if it is truly a downforce/safety issue I am going to be in line this afternoon at my favorite shop.

Wil Anderson

WilsonAnderson

RennListers,

I have recently broken my spoiler deflector as well.

What impact will having the top inch or the deflector broken, and now removed from the vehicle?

When it riped at the flex joint, the broken peice of plastic was blowing around in the wind scratching the paint, and creating a wide arch across the the lower portion of the engine lid. Damn newar cried.

I have been runing without any noticable problems.

Is this cosmetic, or will it truly affect handling. This is my daily driver that I do not push to ten/tenths very often unlike most everyone else.. I do not go to the track.

I would rather not drop the 120.00 if it is cosmetic, but if it is truly a downforce/safety issue I am going to be in line this afternoon at my favorite shop.

Wil Anderson

jimq

Seems like from what I have read on here is that it keeps the spoiler from rocking around. If you arent going 100+ mph you probbly wouldnt notice it. i never did and couldnt tell any difference after fixing it. Seen some post about directing cooling air but didnt notice any change either.