vettenomore

Quick background - my 997.1 was rear-ended approximately a month ago in stop and go traffic. The guy who hit me was going 5 or so mph but was a truck with a steel "cow-catcher" on front that creased back bumper by passenger taillight up to the spoiler. It also creased the spoiler and loosened it.


I picked the car up yesterday evening from the body shop and when on the highway immediately got a spoiler error message when the car reached 75 mph and the spoiler deployed - although the spoiler extended, it would not retract automatically when I slowed speed. It will retract if I turn the car off, then back on, and use the manual control. The spoiler goes up and down manually with no problem and no error message.


Does this sound like a hydraulic issue or a wiring issue? (The car is scheduled to go back to body shop for further inspection next Monday, but I'm curious as to the cause of the issue) Thanks for any help.

Macster

When I got my 2003 Turbo back from the body shop after hitting a mule deer I immediately drove it over to my local Porsche dealer and the two senior techs inspected the car even taking the front bumper cover off. I offered to pay the labor but I don't think the service department charged me.

I had a note pad and made a list of things they found after the bumper cover was removed.

In your case the rear bumper cover would be removed and the work inspected. Odds are the tech would be able to tell you why the spoiler is acting like it is acting so you could have the body shop address this.

Might add that I also had my car inspected at another body shop owned by a buddy of mine.

After the inspection at the body shop and the dealer I had a nice list of things to have addressed so I took my car back to the repair body shop and after another 30 days all the items were completely addressed. That was 8 years ago and there have been no issues from the repair work in that time.

vettenomore

Thanks for that info. The body shop I took it to is a Porsche authorized repair shop and actually has a Porsche tech on staff. They also have a connection to the local Porsche dealer ( same owner) and they will take it to the dealer for service if needed. My thought is that they tested the spoiler using only the manual control and thought all was good.


I was hoping if the issue was an easy fix (fuse, etc,), I could take care of it myself this weekend and not have to be without my car again. If not, the shop will do all that is necessary to fix the issue. Their work is warrantied for as long as I own the car.

saabin

My guess is electrical.. There are microswitches on the right side hydraulic shaft that tell the ECU if the spoiler is up or down..

My theory is if these dont register after a certain time after the ECU commands the spoiler to go up then you get the message on the dash..

Either way your shop should get you fixed up..

DaveCarrera4

Seems that the problem would show up using the dash switch as well. If during a drive only, then there could be a loose wire at the microswitch making intermittent contact.

shadow993

Following... I just started getting a random spoiler error on the dash at start-up and then it goes away. However, it functions normally.

vettenomore

Well, today I'm even more confused. Yesterday, I used the spoiler dash switch while the car was idling in park. Spoiler went up and down several times with no error message. Later, while I was driving on the highway at approx 60 mph, I used the switch and when the spoiler went up the error message came on and spoiler would not retract. As usual, when I turned car off then back on, the spoiler retracted with the switch.

DaveCarrera4

loose wire.

Macster

Much the same in my car's case. I went with the shop the dealer where I bought the car recommended, said it used for all its Porsche (and other brand: BMW, M-B, etc.) body/paint work.

I sent a letter to both the dealer and the body shop clearly stating the car should be repaired to Porsche standards in order to retain the CPO warranty. Among other things this requires all mechanical work be done by a Porsche tech at an authorized Porsche dealership.

Still the car came out of the body shop with around 2 pages of issues composed from an inspection by my body shop buddy and that of the senior techs at another dealer near me.

Body shops repair scores and scores of other lesser cars and get lazy/sloppy over time.

My experience is these shops can still do good work but you have to be on your toes and go over the car with a fine tooth comb and probably with some help from other techs with no connection to the body shop or the dealership working in partnership with the body shop to help find the issues.

I think you are in a similar situation.

TT Surgeon

Sounds like a microswutch, there are two but on the 997 it's one piece with the wiring harness.

Suede

vettenomore

That is probably going to happen in the future but I doubt that Porsche will authorize that as a repair or that the insurance will pay for it. At this time, Porsche is going to repair (whatever the cause) and I’ll ride that repair for as long as it lasts. Rennkit is likely in my future but hopefully will be awhile.

DaveCarrera4

thanks guys! We are here when you are ready to toss out the hydraulics for something much better. On a side note, we have supplied eRam kits to dealers! Seems they are buying them for cars in the lot that they are selling, or for customers who insist. Hmmmmm.

Suede

I still love these things. I can feel the difference from the wing being higher.

Dguth

Funny - mine did the same darn thing yesterday. Driving down the road. Did a spirited push on the throttle. Red warning message pops up and says the rear spoiler error. Get home, shut the car off and back on - the spoiler goes up and down, no problem....