My spoiler has gotten to the point of the malfunction message/light and no longer extends all the way upward. It moves less than an inch upwards and appears to do so evenly. I checked the rams and there's no leaks evident on the bottom caps. I do, however, have what appears to be a leak from the pump that came out in the center section of the deck lid. I had always had some oily/dirt collecting between the decklid and the bumper and thought it was a result of some sort of engine oil blow by, etc, but now in hindsight I think it was a leaky pump all along. Recently there was excess oil there that ran all the way in the groove on top of the bumper all the way to the fender liners for both rear tires. I assume that's when the pump dumped it's contents, which is when the error message started.

I've read a variety of posts on various forums and some were years old so I wanted to see what my current options are, if any different than what I read.

I haven't opened it up yet to see what is visibly wrong, but what are the likely options I have ahead of myself?

1.) Fix the pump - are there any likely failures that I can fix myself?
2.) New pump - I think this was upwards of $800?
3.) Some people tried "Lucas power steering fluid with "leak sealer"" that helped depending on what their issue was. Mine may be to far failed for this?
4.) Fixed-up position kit. Remove hydraulics and replace with a bolt apparently. Maybe need to short a sensor to avoid warning message? I see there's a kit on Ebay for $150. I'm sure this is mostly an overpriced bolt with instructions, but still might be worth consideration.
5.) New spoiler that's designed to be in fixed position. What's the cheapest GT2 style worth considering? I'm sure with paint I'd be over $1000 for this option.

Other options I missed?

Here's a photo while I'm at it...



Thanks!
Mark

 

I think you covered it! I have the dealer invoice from the PO for a new pump+labor. I believe it's $1800 (Porsche dealer).

I would go with a fixed GT2 style wing. That's my plan if it were to fail again.

Good looking car btw!!

 

Few days back found passenger side spoiler ram leaking :-(
For now spoiler is working fine.
It seems it is leaking around the two gasket on the lower end of the ram. After considering few expensive options I used super glue around the gaskets. It's working for now, stopped leaking (pic). My question: Is it possible to replace only the gaskets? Can I tight the bolt (possibly a 10 or 12 mm bolt) at the end of the ram? Thanks.

 

i had my system replaced once under warranty on my last tt. that was the best and porsche won't mess with anything other than the entire kit rams/pump and all for the $1800.00 mentioned already.

my next tt was out of warranty, so i also bought the fixed wing kit on ebay but opted to try and fix my leaking rams. bought it, and it's a very well thought out unit that is plug and play and pick your height. also they have an extended length one that goes higher than stock fully extended. it's basically some washers and studs, but it fits per its instructions.

i have the full step by step re-bleed instructions if needed i could repost them as i found them here or rennlist. it works if you do it right, and your pump is still working properly. if your pump has failed, no go.

barring that, it's the kit or an aftermarket wing. if my stock wing didn't work, i'd rather have the gt2 decklid and wing, rather than keeping the rams extended with the fixed wing kit. i think you can make the gt2 wing happen with paint for maybe 1200-1500. unless you diy, then perhaps less.

 

.. and that's probably how long it'll stay fixed. "for now"... and yes, tightening the banjo bolts should help you to retain fluid in the rams . but from the pic, i can't imagine you'll have a movable wing for long. you are a candidate though for the re-bleeding process. it works best when the problems are found early, before the pump gets fried or the rams are fully drained. good luck.

 

1600$ for the getty design gt2 wing and 2100$ for the mashaw wing. add paint and im thinking your closer to 2100 to 2500$ for the fixed wing conversion. it is the best looking imo and well worth it

 

Some thoughts on a couple of your options (which I think you've covered well):

2) I don't think you can get just the pump new. When I looked into this a while back, I found that Porsche only sells the complete set (pump, rams, etc) as a single kit for you to replace everything at once. It seems to be more frequent that it's the rams that start leaking, and the folks who take it to the dealer end up getting everything replaced.

I'd also bet that you can find someone who is willing to sell you their used pump -- especially if they ended up going the fixed route after the rams went bad.

4) I ended up doing the kit (extended bolt). You are correct in your assumption that the parts in this kit are actually quite simple and inexpensive. The cost is more for the instructions. As an aside, I'm a little surprised that these instructions haven't ended up out there already -- Personally, I think the kit price will have to come down eventually or they just won't sell for long.

 

i bought the kit; i like it up all the time anyway.. it will fail again for sho...

 

Just take it apart and re fill with a 50/50 mix of fluid and luas oil stop leak. It's pretty easy to do.

1. Lower rams all the way by holding switch to ensure that pistons in pump are all the way down.

2. Take pump off and fill with mix

3. Stick the end of each line connected to the ram into the mix bottle and lift that side of the ram up and down by lifting on the wing. Pump it up and down several times to purge air and fill with fluid. Do this for both sides.

4. Put it back together carefully without dumping new fluid out of lines.

 

I went with the EBay kit myself and I put a Mashaw GT2 Blade on as well.

I chose the EBay kit because:
-> It is cheap,
-> Always up works for me,
-> I didnt want to worry about refilling with leak stop,
-> Good reviews and PHENOMENAL support from the seller,
-> I like to support owners innovating to solve all of our problems instead of dealer solutions.

I prefer the GT2 rear, but not for the price difference.

Yes, when you see what is in the package, you will think that's a lot of money to pay for that. But the kit is very well thought out, probably took awhile to work out, comes with fantastic instructions and the seller will call you back IMMEDIATELY if you have a question during install.

 

that sounds like a good ( less expensive, and still functional ) workaround instead of the gt2 decklid and wing. do you have a pic of that setup?