Hello Guys:

I own a 2001 TT w/ around 15k on the clock.

Yesterday I went to manually raise the spoiler and after it was lifted I got a rear spoiler error, then it would not go up or down manually for a few hours. I started it up about 5 hrs later and all was good, no error display either. I decided to leave it in the down position overnight, I looked in the engine compartment today and did not notice a large hydraulic leak other than a little spec or trace of fluid. Was thinking the cold weather here in DC could be a factor but not too sure because the car is garage kept.

I am getting ready to clean off the rams and put some white lithium grease on them because I could see how this is way overdue considering my spoiler is always on the move.

Any other recommendations or preventative maintenance I can take would be greatly appreciated?

Thx!

 

Well......unfortunately there are more posts on 'Rear Spoiler Failure' than even 'smoke at start-up'.
On the upside for you, you'll find a wealth of material......this and on other boards.
Personally I decided a couple yrs back that I did not need another hobby (and never really liked the OE wing all that much) so I changed out.

Yep it is fixible but no doubt, it is not one of the finer engineered parts of the 996.
Hey Montescew....gota say......15K on an 01.....that is incredible.
Good luck w/your wing guy.

 

Thanks Gregg, yeah I have a few other cars and she mostly just hibernates hence the low mileage. I am very local to everything but would love to take it on a long road trip someday. My mechanic has an 01 TT w/ 115k+ on his and always gets on me about the mileage, totally understandable! I just replaced the orig tires in the front two weeks ago.

I will ask my mechanic but other than the oil which I change every 3-4k should I be flushing any other fluids at this point in time? Car has all the orig fluids since purchase.

Thx again!!!

 

Facing the same issue with my 03 Turbo with now just over 102K miles.

Greasing the rams won't help. Besides the metal you see when the spoiler is up is not the hydraulic ram or hydraulic cylinder shaft anyhow but just dust covers.

The cold temp could be affecting the hydraulic pressure in the system and this accounts for the warning light/message.

If you wipe the protrusions off chances are you'll get a bit of fluid residue on the towel. Look closely at engine compartment sheet metal which is below these protrusions. I think you'll see a bit of evidence there's a fluid leak.

What has probably happened is a bit of fluid has leaked out and the system doesn't create as much pressure as it would otherwise and this accounts for the error.

But to give you (and me) some hope a sensor connection might be at fault.

I intend to speak to the techs at my local dealer about this and see if they can point out the location of the sensors and I'll disconnect/reconnect and see if this doesn't improve what I hope is a marginal electrical connection rather than a more serious problem.

If the system is low on fluid while the system is not supposedly not a serviceable system I have read posts of owners who have taken the system apart and topped up the fluid level even replaced components with off the shelf components and resurrecting the spoiler for far less than a new one costs.

There is also an eBay fixed spoiler solution for sale for $150 which some have bought and installed. This consists of a couple of solid threaded bars that replace the hydraulics and hold the spoiler up in its fully extended position.

Or one can by a fixed wing maybe something along the lines of one used by the GT2. This is not a cheap solution.

 

Brake/clutch fluid should be flushed/bled every 2 years. While the coolant is lifetime according to Porsche I have the old fluid drained and the cooling system refilled with fresh Porsche anti-freeze/distilled water every 5 to 5 years.

Tranny/diff fluids are not due to be changed until 90K miles and there is no time change interval but I have these changed very 45K to 60K miles on my Turbo.

Also, plugs are due to be changed if not on miles on time so you should have these done soon. The thinking is I believe a concern that plugs left in too long could seize in the head and removing the plugs in this case could have the head damaged, the threads in the spark plug holes damaged.

 

Most definitely. I would replace all the fluids due to age. I am replacing my transmission, coolant, differential/axle, power steering and brake fluid over the winter now as my 996TT is 10 years old. BTW Porsche recommends brake fluid flush every 2 years.