I'm really confused. When I bought the car the spoiler had a little residue around the rams. It would still go up automatically, but I would receive a warning that it didn't. I would need to restart the car to get it down with the button. I disassembled, sealed the rams, and replaced fluid....rams are now nice and dry. Now the spoiler goes up and down automatically...sometimes. At this point I thought it was definitely the microswitches, so I replaced them. Still at 75mph spoiler goes up, but the car says it didn't. And since the car thinks it didn't deploy, i get the dash warning, and it will not retract automatically. At that point once I slow down I need to use the button to retract the spoiler. I just don't get it!!!

 

Check to make sure your spoiler is going up evenly. If not you'll get the spoiler error. Recheck your fluid to make sure each ram is equal. You indicated you replaced your micro switch but if your still getting the warning recheck for connection and test the switch.

 

My guess is you forced the switches too hard into the holder. They don't take a lot of force to seat properly.

 

the switch install went really well. I'm going to recheck the fluid level in the system. I did my best bleeding the system, but now I'm questioning the ram travel. The spoiler does go up a little uneven, and I can't positively say it goes up all the way. I may need to add fluid.

 

usually if they deploy as intended but are uneven it is uneven fluid level. sometimes takes a bleed/re-bleed or two to get them *right*.

 

I rebuilt mine. It's not easy, and I did some minor damage to one of the microswitches. They are built like a Swiss watch, very fine and delicate. Sounds like your problem is a lack of fluid, that is slightly low not allowing both to fully extend, or at least passenger ram to reach the microswitch. Make sure both cylinders are full. There is a procedure for this toward the end of the repair manual. The next thing would be to replace the top microswitch. Be gentle with it is my advice, and lay a big towel over the engine and one over the cowl to catch parts.

 

Thanks much. Have this problem on my newly puchased Turbo S.

 

To add to this, mine were leaking a bit and one side of spoiler would go up and bind up the other side. I removed the whole system, took it apart, cleaned it, and filled it with power steering fluid. No need for pentosin. Put it back together and has worked great for 2 years. I am now getting the light but it works as it should. Guess it's time to mess with the switches. I don't remember seeing them in there. Anyone have a pic of them?

 

passenger side. Like a fine Swiss watch with little parts and springs. Very delicate and out of place on this car.

 

Found them...man, talk about delicate!! One wrong move and they are trash. I had to tape them in. But now works perfect.

 

I have found that you won't get a warning util you are down to about half the capacity of fluid in the reservoir. So, if your switches seem to be fine, but you are still getting a warning, it is quite probable that you are just low on fluid. You still have a leak, but a fill-up could last another two years.

 

there is no fluid level sensor, just malfunction going up or down all the way. My rebuild only lasted a few weeks then left ram shot its load all over my back bumper. Bad seal, and I am not going to waste my time trying to rebuild the rams for such a poor design to start with. Going electric over the winter.

 

...Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest there was a fluid sensor... just that the system will function properly with only half the fluid. When the level drops below that, the wing doesn't go up high enough to trigger the micro-switch that the wing is up and you get a failure warning. This is just to illustrate that a slow leak is not cause for a complete replacement if you are willing to refill once in a while. For total loss of pressure like yours, you would need to find another way.

 

Here is what I have going on, I would appreciate any suggestions..

My wife bought an '05 996TT in May of this year that only had 9900 miles so obviously it sat a lot. Now it is a DD. After a month or two she got the spoiler light while driving to work and the spoiler would not go up. We took into our highly respected local Pcar shop and they could not find anything wrong saying it functioned fine for them ~30 times. All was good for about 6 weeks and now the spoiler stays up and there are no fault lights at all. After exploring around the wires but not taking any parts off, it worked for one day but now we are back to it staying up, no fault lights of any sort.

I'm thinking loose microswitches based upon my reading here.. Thoughts?

TIA,

Scott

 

That's a tough one... The micro switches don't affect the control at all really. They only tell the system if the wing is up or down. If it is up and you give it a down command, the motor would start right away and move the wing down (unless the micro-switch was indicating it was already down). You would not get a warning light for that. You would need to hold the switch for the motor to continue moving down.

If the wing is down and you go fast enough to activate the auto-up feature, the wing should start to go up immediately. If there is a problem with the micro-switch and it is indicating the wing is down - you get a failure light. If it does go up and there is a problem with the upper micro-switch so the system does not get indication the wing is up - you get a failure warning.

You are not getting a failure warning - so that leads me to believe the micro-switches are not the problem.

You say the wing was stuck up - but you "Played with the wires" and it was OK for a day. Did fiddling with the wires cause the system to start to work again? If so, it sounds like wiring could be the answer - but - if there was a problem with wiring and your car gave the wing the "Up" command and it didn't go up - you would get a failure warning. The fact that you don't get warnings makes all of this a little confusing.

If the wing is stuck up - turn the car on and press & hold the down button. It may take 5 seconds or so, but you should either get some action or a failure warning light.