mpiffaretti

Good morning fine gentleman, need a little help here. Yesterday I had a rear spoiler malfunction, when I went outside to check it I noticed that the left side spoiler piston was deployed all the way out while the right spoiler piston was only half way, making the spoiler not parallel with the bottom portion of the fixed spoiler.
Its worth mentioning that I had washed the car earlier that day, could it be moisture in a connector? there are no signs of hydraulic fluid leaks and the whole system is dry. Any ideas?

jhbrennan

What happens when you cycle the spoiler up and down using the inside switch?

mpiffaretti

It goes up and down as described, all the way up on the left, and about 3/4 of the way on the right side... The electrical part seems to be working, but for whatever reason the right side piston is not extending all the way

Macster

Barring some kind of mechanical failure that is preventing the spoiler from fully deploying on the low side I'd hazard a guess the problem is a fluid leak and the cylinders have become unbalanced. That is what happened with the spoiler of my 996 Turbo.

The spoiler hydraulic fluid is Pentosin which is water soluble and you could have washed away most signs of a spoiler hydraulic fluid leak. Even though I didn't wash my car before I inspected the spoiler the fact the spoiler cylinders were leaking wasn't very obvious. The fluid is very liquid and runs down and spreads out -- none was hitting the ground either -- and just kind of disappears, almost.

Be careful. The unbalanced spoiler might do some body/paint damage. I lowered my car's spoiler and pulled the spoiler fuse to prevent the spoiler from deploying until I could get the car in for repairs. Bear in mind with the fuse pulled if you reach the speed threshold at which the spoiler should deploy a warning light will turn on and you'll get a warning message on the dash.

Also, the spoiler fuse can also be a fuse for another electrical circuit that may not be documented well. After I removed the spoiler fuse I found I could not open the engine compartment lid. Short story is the spoiler fuse (at least in the 996 Turbo) is also the fuse for the engine compartment lid electrical latch release.

CT944

I had the spoiler rams, clutch slave and accumulator all fail at once, was a puddle underneath the drivers footwell in garage floor. All of these for some reason use Pentosin, so had to have car picked up as I could barely get the car in gear due to fluid leaks. Thankfully, all fixed under CPO.

mpiffaretti

Thanks for the input Macster. Today both cylinders go up and down all the way as they should, even though Im still getting a Malfunction message. At least the spoiler does not look sideways.
Is there any way to check the level of pentosin? or is there a reservoir that I can fill up until I can find the leak?

therock88

Unfortunately, they are sealed units and you would have to remove the reservoir and still could not really tell the level..

There is a fixed wing solution the replaces the rams...And a place that will rebuild the system for about $600? Lot cheaper than the thousands to replace..

Good luck.
DC

CincyScott

Depending on how mechanically inclined you are, there is a fix that involves taking the contraption apart, bleeding the system, and refilling it. I did it on my 996tt and it was still fine 2 years later. Cost was about $20 bux in various fluids, but I'm sure it's not permanent.

Here's a link: Clicky

I also think there are companies out there that will rebuild the hydraulics too, but it's been a while since I looked. I definitely wouldn't pay the 3k to get new if I had an option. You can also call these guys, I believe they have a service to rebuild the hydraulics too.

Hyrdraulic Rebuilder Dudes

mpiffaretti

Thanks guys, im just gonna have to take to my Indy.. hopefully they can do what Scott mentioned above or if it doesn't work perhaps sourced a rebuilt unit.. I appreciate all the input nevertheless

fresh-popcorn

How common is the rear wing malfunctions?

I looked at a carfax report on a 08tt and it states that the spoiler/wing has been replaced/repaired twice and this vehicle only has 28k miles.

CT944

Very common. All my cars that had the hydrolic spoiler have had them replaced at least once. My current 997TT is on its second set.

therock88

Yes..another add to the list of defects that Porsche leaves us stuck with! It is not a matter of (IF) it will happen, but when. They all develop a leak and it just depends on driving etc., as to how fast all the fluid leaks out.

Scott's fix listed above is a good one. I may try that WHEN mine starts to go
Then the other place that fixes them is linked here:

http://www.cabriolethydraulics.com/index.php

DC

jhbrennan

I put 20,000 miles on an 07 TT and another 15,000 on an 08 TT - never had an issue with the spoiler - maybe I was lucky and it's someone else's problem now...or maybe the issue is not that prevalent.

therock88

20K and 15K....You just broke them in

DC

nzskater

If this happened to me, I'd look to buy a standard Carerra decklid instead. Has anyone tried this? Quite like the idea of a sleeper turbo...