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I have a 2011 Panamera S with (what seems to be) a fairly common spoiler failure issue.
I feel like I’m training in vain to repair it but so far to no avail.
This week I’ve set to and removed the spoiler from the car. Visually once out there was some debris and signs of corrosion but nothing significant. I popped the motor box off and that looked generally alright. I then proceeded to remove the two actuator covers and was presented with one side which looked alright and the other which was showing a lot of rust / corrosion. Could this be my issue (seems so).
Question to this group, is this something that’s salvageable. Can it be repaired or the actuator (cheaply) replaced or should I bite the bullet and get a good used replacement?
I managed to get it fully sorted and now no issues.
Below are the steps I carried out.
In a nutshell, you have to remove the boot (trunk) trim around the window starting from the top middle, then the side panels, then the bottom panels (where the boot latch is. There are several push in clips and (I think) about 7 hex bolts. Remove all those, the two boot lights and the boot switch then you’ll have everything you need to reach the spoiler bolts / connector.
At this point, disconnect the spoiler connector and 8 bolts underneath. Once you’ve done that, you can close the boot and gently lift the spoiler off the car. Check for any debris from where the spoiler was seated and give it a good clean.
Working on the spoiler itself, you’ll need to remove the motor cover in the middle (this simply unclips). Unplug the electrical cable and pull the motor up which will allow you to disconnect the connecting rods which go from either side of the motor, to an actuator on the right and left of the spoiler. Once the motor side of the rods are disconnected, pull off the plastic cover and inspect the rod itself. IF the mechanism is not seized, you can (by hand) turn the individual rods which connect to the actuators. If it’s looking a bit rusty and doesn’t move then you’ve got to investigate further.
Next, you’ll see 2 panels at either side of the spoiler which house the actuators. They are tough to get off and you’ll more than likely break some clips in the process. Once you’ve got them open, you’ll see the gear mechanism which lifts and lowers the spoiler (this is what the rods attached to). In my case, one side was really badly corroded so it was soaked in WD40 and left for a day or two.
The best way for me to free it off was a combination of tapping away at the gears with a flat head screw driver in an effort to remove some of the corrosion and then gently twist the connecting rod with a pair of pliers. After more lube and increased pressure I managed to get it to turn 90 degrees initially before eventually it was fully rotating. It was still stiff, but was improving.
Next, I choose to put it all back together and back on the car (just with 4 bolts) to see if it would engage and work…..which it did….although it was noisy and the motor was being worked quite hard…..however it was slowly getting better.
I then removed it again, applied some more lube, gave it a good clean up and added some lithium grease. At this point I could turn the connecting rod by hand and was confident it was moving in the right direction.
I fitted it once again (again with 4 bolts and without putting the interior back together) and ran the car for a day with it operating as normal. The noise had gone and it was running smoothly again.
To finish up, I removed one more time, re-greased, re-sealed the covers with a high temp silicon sealant and put it all back together again. A few days in, all is happy!
Hi,
Thanks for a great explanation of the spoiler issue. I have similar problems but am yet to get into the mechanism. I have tried a junk yard replacement mechanism but my fault is still there. Guess it's possible that may also be corroded inside. I was wondering if you needed to replace any fuses or reset any fault codes before the repaired spoiler worked?
