Testing Rear Wing Operation - Off The Car
 

I've removed my rear wing due to minimal operation caused by a leaking ram(s)

I've refilled the pump and hooked everything up to a battery to test it's operation

The left side now rises and retracts fully, but the right side doesn't move at all

Could this be because the microswitches aren't fitted, or is there something else at fault?

To answer my own question.......
It's not because the microswitches aren't fitted

After running the spoiler up and down a few times the fluid in the right hand ram settled to a lower level again

I topped it up a few more times and all seems to be well again :)

Glad you got to fix it.

Thanks mate - there's loads of good info on here so I won't waste space listing what I did - I only copied what others have done previously

Next job is drivers window regulator!

Hi ant_8u,

Do you mind posting the links here so that it's all contained in one thread? Thanks!

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ats-wrong.html

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...r-spoiler.html

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...r-problem.html

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ydraulics.html

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...se-up-how.html

Awesome! Thanks! Bookmarked!

No worries :)

Also - A few people have said you can hook a battery up to the spoiler motor in order to raise it, and that by switching the polarity around you can then lower it


Just incase anybody needs to know which way around does what.........


The rear-most terminal on the spoiler motor is slightly larger than the front-most terminal

If you connect the positive charge to the rear/bigger terminal you will raise the spoiler

If you connect the positive charge to the front/smaller terminal you will lower the spoiler

Just to clarify, don't leave the connectors for the battery on the motor and the motor running!! I left similar instructions up on another thread and I guess someone left them attached and blew out the motor or the plunger. Just use common sense! :)

Excellent point - Massively important!!

When on the car, the spoiler motor is cut-out by the microswitches

BUT, when hooked up to a battery there is no auto cut-out

The motor will continue to run even though the wing is fully retracted or extended

Failure to disconnect the motor from the battery will cause the motor to try any continue it's operation and will lead to broken parts

Take care

Thanks, you said it 100 times better than I did!

So ant_8u,

Let us know how long your spoiler lasts with fluids replaced. It would be interesting to see how long you can prolong the life of the spoiler by doing this. I just noticed my driver side ram is leaking but it is still working fine for now. I may convert to manual and not deal with it. Thanks!

B

I'll update the thread if/when my spoiler begins to fail again

I drained all the original fluid (as there's not very much in the system at all) and replaced it with some 'Slick 50' power steering fluid

I've recently seen an Aero kit for sale
I'm not sure whether to buy that as a possible back-up
What do you think?

All I know is the number of leaking rams on this board alone point to a flawed design. If you buy a used set, it may eventually fail as well. This could happen sooner or later. It would seem for a hydraulic part that is leaking, it won't matter if the part has not been used for a while as it's probably more the life in terms of years that will cause the leaking (eg, even if the used aerokit has been sitting on the shelf for two years it may still leak after your first use because of the degradation of the materials of the bad seals). So this issue becomes a guaranteed money pit even IF you buy another used set as backup.

I look at it the same way as the clutch accumulator to GT2 slave upgrade. For me, if the part is prone to early failure, then if another solution presents itself that is affordable and improves on performance than it's a no-brainer to go ahead.

In this case, the manual kit is affordable, cost way less than even a used set of hyrdaulics, and will most likely not fail again. The drawbacks are that I need to manually set the spoiler height and it won't go up or down at a certain speed. So, the "trick" factor is lost in the manual solution which for some, is an important characteristic of the Turbo. For me, that "trick" factor is not worth the cost. Furthermore, both the GT2 and GT3 have fixed wing designs so there really is no benefit except that it distinguishes itself as a Turbo model. Again, not worth the headache and cost to service/replace a known part that will fail at some point in time.

Those are my thoughts.

Brent

Update - It's failed hilarious

I refitted the spoiler, and mechanism today
Once fitted I operated the spoiler via the interior button
It goes up and down as it should, but I noticed a small leak coming from one of the rams

I'm not sure why this leak has reappeared, but I'm working on it

Before I refitted the system I operated it quite a few times to make sure everything worked, and that it extended and retracted evenly

Once I'd ascertained this I left the rams in the extended position (still off the car)

My reasoning for this was that this is when the rams are under most pressure and are full of fluid (when the rams are retracted they're pretty much empty)

With the rams extended I left them for a couple of days to check for leaks
Everything was fine, so I refitted everything to the car today

After a few operations it leaked slightly again :(

I've operated the system quite a few times whilst fitted to the car
I've cleaned up the leak, and have left the spoiler raised

I've left it raised in the hope that the 'leak stop' in the fluid will do it's job (as the ram is full when in the extended position)

I'll leave it for a couple of days, after which time I'll operate it again

I'm guessing I may need to top the system up again at that time, and hope that the 'leak stop' will have done it's job by then

More updates to follow