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I was reading about all these spoiler failures recently and what do you know, on Monday I finally got mine! After some more research I really don’t know what is causing my problem.

My observations so far:

• No hydraulic fluid anywhere in the engine compartment or on the pistons themselves. I also took the caps off and they are dry.
• When I press the spoiler button I hear absolutely nothing from the spoiler motor (engine off but key turned to accessories).
• Spoiler does not move at all regardless of any input.
• Checked the fuse (F3, Row A) and its fine.
• Disconnected the battery for ~10 minutes.
• I get a Failure Spoiler Control message approximately 1.5 seconds after I press the spoiler button which is the amount of time it normally takes the spoiler to fully deploy. If I press and hold the spoiler button after the failed raise attempt, the light does not go out nor do I get another error message.
• When I’m driving and reach ~ 75mph, I get the Failure Spoiler Control message and also get it as soon as I drop below 75mph if done within a few seconds. First error message is usually red and the second is usually white. I don’t get any errors when I go below the retraction speed of ~38mph.
• Tried pulling up on the spoiler while I had someone press the button.
• The warning (red exclamation point) disappears after you remove the key and doesn’t return until you get the error message again.

Any thoughts?

 

Mine is doing the exact same thing right now. I'm going to remove the hydraulic system and make it fixed in the up position.

 

hmmmm? Based on your observations, it seems like it may/must be in the actual wiring. If you can determine where in the circuit it sends power to the hydraulic pump to activate, I think that would be it. It would not be the actual button, because it would still go up at speed regardless of the button...

Not sure that helps, but likely in the wiring somewhere. Any recent mods or changes to the car that may have disrupted the wiring anywhere?

Good luck..

DC

 

I want to keep the functionality...I've always loved that feature.

 

Only mod is an EP exhaust. I checked yesterday and still don't see any fluid leaking or hear the motor moving.

I think you are correct about it being a wiring/electrical problem. I'm wondering about the limit switches. I was driving yesterday and it gave me the error message in red and you cannot ignore it or acknowledge it to see another parameter such as boost regardless of what you do. As soon as I go below 75mph is turns white and you can acknowledge and see other parameters. This is still weird to me considering the spoiler shouldn't be going done anywhere near that speed after deployment. This gets really annoying if you are hovering around that speed and keep hearing the warning chime.

I'm not a good electrical troubleshooter nor have wiring diagrams.

 

gives others on the road something to look at...lol.

 

I can see it go up while I'm driving so I get to benefit as well.

 

Update:
My car was in stored for the winter from November until mid April. When I picked up the car I checked for any fluid leaks including directly under the spoiler rams and found none. At this point I'm very sure it's electrical and not mechanical as DC mentioned. On my way home it occurred to me that that I hadn't seen/heard the spoiler failure message and looked down to see that I was doing 80mph. Looked in my side mirror and sure enough the spoiler was up and functioning normally. The only thing I did before the spoiler started acting up was change the wheels and wash the car...I'm glad it's working now.

 

It needed its beauty sleep. Glad it worked out

 

Chances are the issue will return (I hope not) I'm currently having the same issue and the problem goes away but returns. Here is some info from the PCA website:

The two most common causes for spoiler faults on 996 and 997 Turbos are: 1. Faulty limit switches for the top or bottom stops for the spoiler or 2. A leaking spoiler drive assembly not allowing the spoiler to fully extend and close the upper limit switch.

#1. Occasionally the limit switches, which are housed under the black plastic trim on the passenger side of the engine lid, will fall out of their mounting clips causing this type of failure. Micro-switches can also fail internally on occasion, though not a frequent occurrence. This concern is a much easier and cheaper repair than the second option but is also less common.

#2. When the spoiler drive assembly begins to leak from the spoiler rams, hydraulic lines or hydraulic pump (or a combination of the 3) eventually the system will not have enough hydraulic fluid to fully extend the spoiler to its end position. The entire hydraulic system for the spoiler is housed in the rear engine lid. There are plastic caps that cover the banjo fittings where the hydraulic lines attach to the bottom of the spoiler rams. When these rams or lines leak the oil can usually be seen dripping out of these caps. If the leak is at the pump or fittings on the pump it will be more difficult to see as the pump mounts on the back side of the black trim panel that bolts onto the underside of the engine lid, but you should still see the oily residue if it is leaking.

If the pump is failing or internally bypassing fluid you may also get this fault but would have no visual cues. The only way to diagnose a failing pump is to use a scan tool and read out the limit switches to see if they close at both upper and lower stops. This is also how you would test the switches for proper operation.

 

Glad to hear it is OK. Your potential cause is plausible as sitting for a long period would have created a dry condition where moisture may have been trapped. Hoping it is resolved for you!

I would pay careful attention in the future when washing, and try not to soak the rear decklid.....If you do have the issue again, I would make note of the proximity to when you wash(ed) the car and you may have narrowed down your issue. If that ends up being the case, it seems you can seal, or spray silicone lube on that switch to prevent it again in the future??

Good luck!
DC

 

That's very good advice, thank you. I do know that it happened immediately after I washed the car. The temperature at the time was not high enough to dry the water very well as I noticed the next day I still has some water along the door jams. I would have thought the temperature in the engine bay was enough to dry the limit switches.

I plan to inspect the 2 limit switches and possibly spray them with silicon lube as you suggested.

Something to note is that when I wash the car I use a pressure washer and I also place a garbage bag over the engine. I find a large amount of water all over the engine if I don't and the serpentine belt gets noisy for a couple of minutes.

 

I never use a hose or a pressure washer - found that I can keep the car clean just using two buckets and Optimum No Rinse - http://www.optimumcarcare.com/onrwns.php

 

Does this stuff actually really work and not scratch your car? How dirty can the car be before this stuff doesn't work?