So after a couple years of ownership, this winter I got the dreaded spoiler failure light on the dash. Up until recently it worked flawlessly, although the driver side ram showed signs of a small leak; I guess I should have been expecting it.
It always went up normally until one cold day in November when the light came on and I noticed that it was not going up evenly while being deployed.
I ended up disabling it completely by pulling the negative wire from the hydralic pump under the spoiler and jumping the wires to one of the micro-switches. This kept the light from returning at speeds over 75 mph while keeping it in the down position. So after reading a few threads and looking on youtube I decided to tackle fixing it by trying to flush the fluid.
I ordered the spoiler removal tool on ebay for like $10 last month, then picked up some Pentosin fluid and lucas power steering stop leak at the local auto parts store. Another post said to mix 50/50 stop leak and prestone power steering, I used 25/75 lucas/pentosin. If you don't notice any real leaks I would advise just using the pentosin alone. I'll keep an eye on it over the next coming weeks/months but as of now I don't see any leaks and I drove over 100 miles Sunday with it going up and down.

So first thing I did was completely remove the motor/pump and the rams from the rear. I setup a test bench in the garage with a 12V power supply.
Some other posts said they fixed theirs with it still in, but I wanted to take everything out and inspect the system. I had my son help me and he would switch the wires polarity on the power supply. I could see one side was extending further than the other and one was faster than the other.
So I placed the pump/motor unit vertically down low and put the fluid mix in a small clear cup. After removing the banjo fitting from one of the rams, which I had in the retracted position, I placed the opening in the fluid and elevated it above the pump. I had my son switch on the power to extend and i can see alot of air coming out. Then I had him reverse the wires and I could see and here the pump sucking in fluid. Keeping the end of the hose above the pump and with the pump vertical we did this 5-6 times alternating polarity until there was no air and only fluid going back and forth. Then I tightened the fitting back onto the ram and did the same thing on the other side which had even more air.
Other side had the longer hose so I had to elevate it a little higher but again did until I could make sure there was no air when the pump was pushing and then sucking the fluid. Tightened it back to the ram and this time when we gave it power I could see the rams extending evenly and retracting at the same time.

Bolted everything back up and now I could deploy and retract the spoiler from the dash with no lights and could see it going up and down evenly. Took it for a spin (up and down the highways of mexico of course ) and everything worked as it should above 75 and slowing to whatever the retract speed is.

The whole thing took less than 2hrs on a lazy Saturday afternoon taking my time. Sorry I didn't take any pictures while doing it, let me know if anyone needs some specific details on any steps but it was not very difficult at all. Hope someone finds this useful.

 

congrats! it ain't rocket science..spoiler science *maybe* lol..

probably a good idea to use less of the lucas vs the pent since i do believe its a bit "heavier" viscosity and we don't need ANYthing to overweight the rather effete and delicate system.

again, a hearty "well done" 1st try, no less! rep for that.

PS the system HATES cold weather! more failures when its cold out than any other time. this i know lol

 

I agree on using less stop leak if u don't need, that's why i said if you have no leaks don't bother. Its significantly thicker but figure it might help the seals in the ram a little and have some sealing properties.
Actually I was planning to buy the lucas stop leak and prestone power steering fluid as was noted on a previous thread but my local auto parts store had Pentsin so I ended up buying that instead of the prestone.
And yeah, the system works better in the warm. Before I disabled the spoiler I took the car out on the unusually warm December day we had up here and no dash light in the day, but that night when the temp drop it came on.

 

I went through this recently and what seemed like rocket science at first is a relatively easy fix after you've done it once. Glad you got it sorted, a flaccid spoiler isn't flattering.

 

lol again, well done joseph! less of that stuff is better no doubt.

atrox.. you stole my "flaccid plumage" line it's all good. at least all works as it should,.. and when needed, and at will, and without taking any pills

 

Great unflaccid minds think alike. You're not the only immature one who posts.

 

touché, and yet i still claim copyright. plus my mind is as stiff as they come. but only as i don't believe you didn't read me say that the 17 ( 18 by now??! ) times i have lol.. and in that same exact context.

whatever dude. you can have it. i have lot's better than that i assure you, and all that matters is that joseph here has his spoiler working, not my sophomoric ramblings you've seen fit to plagiarize. ok ok we think exactly alike. you never saw me post of our wings as "flaccid". utterly believable lol.

...but,...I KID! ..and yet, i'm just sorry to be back. if it weren't for jim and tim. well, i just don't know what i would do hah!

 

Keep us posted on how long your fix lasts. Mine made it a few months then spewed the Pentosin/stop leak mix all over my back bumper... Messed up the paint. That was when the whole eRam idea was conceived.

djcooper@rennkit.com

 

My ears wear burning, got a bit worried initially but relaxed when I saw my name and sophomoric ramblings in the same post. It all makes scense now...

 

uhm thanks

 

hey if you are happy with the hydraulics, keep them. I've helped numerous owners diagnose and fix them. What I'm interested in is longevity of the repair.

djcooper@rennkit.com

 

everyone here ( certainly you and tim! ) know i'm just a "goof"..

sorry joseph for the diversion. as carerra dave mentions, the wings even once fixed are prone to god knows what. mine never "puked" fluid but there's no doubt it requires CONSTANT inspection. i found my fixed wing ebay kit just yesterday. lets see.. if i could sell it for a 100? i'd throw it into my pig jar aka daves 4" e-ram wing kit "fund" lol

 

not another spoiler failure ! I prefer mine to STAY UP, you know what i mean.

 

I bleed my system two years ago and have no failures since. OP well done. I hope you get long lasting results!

 

Just an update, spoiler still working perfect. The Driver Ram which had a slight leak is still showing signs of that slight leak so i guess the stop leak didn't do anything but the passenger side is still dry.
I told a local guy at a Cars and coffee about this cheap fix and he wants me to help him fix his too... I realized that maybe i should have changed the washers on the banjo bolts under the rams when i did mine.
Does anyone know where to get new washers for the banjo bolts??