bonehead

Amazon always an option if you don't want to go searching at a store. $11-12 Craftsman delivered to your door

JB911

One more thought-Bovien posted that suco says temperature variations can lead to failure-and since the switches are right next to the coolant pipes, a thought that comes to mind is to insulate them. 2" aluminum tape on the coolant pipes, or maybe a cover/shield for the switches? I'll browse around Home Depot HVAC isles and see if maybe there's a perfect cover that would look and function well. There is also exhaust wrap for insulation. Engineers here might be able to come up with a good functioning idea-

Best,
JB

JG 996T

yeah mine is failing again . . . new switch only lasted about two years....

Wonderdan

I think it's simple terrible design we have to live with. I replaced mine like 9 months ago, its worked until 2 weeks ago when it wouldn't go down again, then it started working again this weekend... I seriously have no idea. In reality I only really need it to go "up" for emergencies, as long as it goes down when I drive I dont care about using the button.

And yes... I'm also annoyed I didn't get in on the group buy cause I'm lazy LOL

Elliotw44

Agree with Dan. A cheap switch every two years is much cheaper then current front lip prices unless you go cup lip. I'm happy to have the functionality when needed.

JB911

I went for a drive, and the Lift worked again. After a few blocks I stopped at a light and pressed the button and got the swoosh sound
Considering that it's been quite a few years since the whole unit was replaced-I'd have to go back to the first pages on this thread to see the exact date, it was on 10/11/2016(!)1

I'd still like to look into insulation options-since Dixon took his apart and did so well investigating(I think he's an engineer) maybe he can come up with something-

JB

cdixon

Yep, I’m an engineer…let me think about it. I did recall on this thread at some point there was a discussion about the working temperature specifications of these switches.

Initial thoughts are that they are mounted on an aluminium pneumatic valve block which will be a good thermal conductor. The compressed air pushed through on activating the FAL will be cold. If used when the car is warmed up, they will be heated up as mounted above the coolant pipes running from engine to front radiators, and thus suddenly be asked to push cold air through. I guess this happening repeatedly will break or weaken it. If you think about it, the adjacent switch in the FAL that registers the dumping of air from the front shocks is never exposed to cold compressed air, so hence why it’s not the failure.

Any solution would in my opinion need to put a heat shield or lagging over the FAL front components. I certainly wouldn’t want to put lagging over the coolant pipes. It wouldn’t surprise me if Porsche engineered the coolant pipes to be exposed to assist in cooling.

cdixon

I wonder if we could modify something like this as a blanket over the pressure switches and aluminium pneumatic block at the front of the FAL?

https://www.forgemotorsport.co.uk/Fo...CABEgIXHvD_BwE

cdixon

Another alternative could be to put a heat sink over the failing switch. I was thinking something like a brushless motor heat sink, as used on remote control cars. Can somebody measure the diameter of the switch?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/362581750...mis&media=COPY

JB911

Yeah those are good ideas-like the turbo blanket I had thought of exhaust wrap, or the simplest solution to start with could be 2" aluminum tape used in AC/Heating systems. But a heat sink like you posted would even look great and, function.

JB

cdixon

I think a heat sink could be a good cheap experiment.

JB911

It would be nice if someone with the Lift removed to try to experiment with a cover/heat sink to protect the switches.
I haven't yet received notification if the switches were shipped to the US yet, but the last email said they would be here by 04/27/2023.
Of note, I did not tell them the switch is for a Lift, and certainly didn't say the P word. Anything with the P-car association goes up in price immediately

JB

cdixon

Yep the good old Porsche Tax!

If anyone is going to take John and I up on our lagging experiment, can they register the date the lagging and switch was installed along with the lagging method. That way we can try to gauge if it’s an experiment that works.

In an ideal world we would also need to log vehicle usage so we could get information on heat cycles and also the amount of times the FAL was used on each journey. This realistically isn’t practical though.

JB911

I take a picture of the dashboard with lit Lift every time I use it-stays on the phone with date
JB

cdixon

Very committed…. You must also be an Engineer 😀