Rob993

Was heading to a show and shine of all things today and the spoiler lifted to the max with no issue on the freeway but when I got off the alert warning light came on and looking through the mirror it was still up on one side (tilted). Could not get it to go down evenly with the manual spoiler button and went out to take a look at it. Gently pushed the high side but it would not budge. I Shutoff the car restarted and tried to work the manual button again and it went down and the warning light was off. Pull up to the show and shine and got out looked at the back of the car and it was covered in hydraulic oil.
Did some searches and it's insane what the fixes were worth. -But I had bought the car with about 9000 miles and at the 7000 mile mark in 2011 the previous original owner had it in to fix for the same reason under warranty. Do you think Porsche will own up and fix it right even though warranty is over (looks like they replaced the hydraulic system back then as well)? Car now has 12K miles on it. Have the original documentation for the previous fix from the dealer as well. My extended warranty (private) has a lot of coverage but does not list spoiler anywhere.
If its not covered sounds like a few thousand to fix. Appreciate any ideas.
Thanks

Igooz

Unfortunately this failure is one of those common failures on the 7TT...
As far as the dealer...you must ask them to fix it for free and see what happens. If you don't ask you won't know. And frankly, it is disturbing to me how rapidly the spoiler has failed again. This is clearly a systemic failure in the design or by the supplier...This failure rate is ridiculous on a $150K car....how hard is it to design 2 linear actuators that just go up and down?!

If need be...you need a special tool to remove those actuators. And I am going to bet that you can find a creative/talented hydraulic actuator repair guy who can take the actuator apart, maybe machine and put it back together for a couple of $100's...I would not replace this part with another High failure rate Porsche part...

jcnesq

Can't be sure but my recollection is that new Porsche parts installed (whether or not under warranty) have a 2-year warranty. And beyond that a Porsche good faith repair should be pursued.

Macster

Clean the fluid off of everything. It is Pentosin and it is not nice to rubber. I'd keep it off of paint and other surfaces too just to be safe. I think it is water soluble.

Ask for goodwill on the spoiler. If 100% isn't forthcoming try for something.

I had to replace the spoiler on my 03 Turbo (at around 110K miles) and it cost around $2200. Try for goodwill.

dewilmoth

There is a shop online that rebuilds the hydraulic cylinders. Can't remember the name, but do a search if the dealer won't help.

Rob993

Igooz, I hear you on that. I keep thinking the RMS ...etc Thanks Macster - soon as I got home cleaned with soap and water - of course it saturated the rubber strip underneath the lid but tried as best as I could to clean.
Thanks dewilmoth. With winter freeze up coming I will have time to get it done right if the dealer does not step up.

Rob993

Finally got the answer from Porsche today and they said "nope" not going to be covered. Again second failure in 2.5 years and 6000 miles. No % off or special deal. Just no. The warranty on the first fix was finished at 2 years and the failure occured at 2 years 4 months. Local P car dealer was great to deal with but Porsche corporate said no. Its just business to them.

German_Saint

aero kit wing? i'm thinking of going this route- I really like the stock lip- I have the front aero lip painted and gt2 side skirts painted- if this happens I'm thinking of the fixed spoiler. I just walked out with a $4,400 repair bill for various items.

Have your tire pressure sensors failed yet? I was told the battery life on them were 80 months. My front right went out- the rest were showing less than 12 mo. so i did all 4.

Rob993

German_Saint, tire sensors have not failed yet. Based on that the repairs are $3K, I will probably send them out as per the advise earlier on the thread. I contacted one of the companies and they said under 1 week turnaround and about $600 to refurbish better than original. Have to take them out myself and install, which does not seem as easy as I thought. Or get a fixed wing and or by the $100 dollar bolting kit that is on 6speed that permantly fixes the wing extended. I guess it will be a winter project.

TT Surgeon

A whole new set of sensors is 380$ from tire rack.

Kevin

Rob, as you know there are 5 components in the lift assy.. Pump, electric pump motor, 2 each hydraulic rams and sensors.. If you see fluid, then it's most likely a ram. I think that one ram is $380 from Porsche.. You can buy the components as needed.

Rob993

Thanks Kevin. It was a major fail as both sides leaked more or less all the hydraulic fluid. It was like a river on both sides when I got out and the spoiler no longer has any movement. Never leaked slowly over time but all in one shot same morning. I'm wonderign maybe both Rams? Should I manually turn the spoiler on and list if the motor makes noise to see if the pump is working or is this a bad idea?

Macster

I'm no spoiler expert but for hydraulic systems it is generally not a good idea to run the pump if the system is low or out of fluid.

If you want to tackle a piece meal repair of this get the new cylinders and fill them/the system with the proper amount of fresh Pentosin before you run the pump.

The above paragraph, I should point out, is just a general guideline.

Others have delved into this spoiler repair much deeper and have posted the steps they followed, their experiences.

So, if you *really* want to tackle a piece meal repair of the spoiler hydraulics first search out the related DIY write ups and read up.

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