Problem with the rear spoiler - Not retracting! (PROBLEM)

[LAWRENCIO11]

Hi everybody!

After searching on almost every forum there is, I am asking for help on here. We have a problem with the automatic rear spoiler on our '97 986 2.5. De rear spoiler normally raises up at 120km/h and retracts at 80km/h. However, on our car the spoiler only raises up. At 80km/h it does not retract automatically. When using the spoiler switch in the footwel, it only raises up and does not retract.

We tried several things already:

• We have removed the rear spoiler unit from the car and disassembled it and replaced a few parts. We replaced the plastic gears and the spoiler microswitches with new ones. The motor is fine. This assured us we have a working spoiler unit. However, reinstalling the unit back into the car did not work; the spoiler raises up, but does not retract.

• We checked all the fuses and relays which are relevant to the rear spoiler unit. All the fuses and relays were fine and functioned properly.

We know that the spoiler is controlled by the instrument cluster, which sends signals to the relays in the back to operate the spoiler motor. It seems like the instrument cluster doesn't receive the feedback from the rear spoiler that it is raised up, which is evident in the fact the spoiler warning light comes up on the dash. However, the instrument cluster is still able to tell the spoiler to raise up, which is exactly what happens at 120km/h.

We checked in at a local Porsche specialist and got the car hooked up on a computer. The computer showed no problems with the car and there were no warnings whatsoever. With the computer we tried to control the rear spoiler unit. Now the spoiler was working fine: it raised and retracted as normal.

The car has been altered by a previous owner. One of the things that was replaced was the complete intrument panel; now white dials instead of black dials. In replacing the intrument panel, the computer could be giving problems. We are not sure about this though, because the spoiler has operated normally after we had bought it.

It seems that by bypassing the car's instrument cluster with another computer (for example the computer of the Porsche specialist) the rear spoiler can be operated normally again. Therefore, we think the problem lies within the instrument cluster. There seems to be a problem in the communication between the instument cluster and the rear spoiler, which subsequently prevents the rear spoiler from retracting.

Untill now we have not been able to solve this. Does anyone know a solution to our problem? Thank you!

[maytag]

So to be clear, the spoiler goes up once, and then stays there for good. It never comes back down. Not on its own, and not with the switch. And do you disassemble it to lower it again? Or under what conditions are you able to lower it again, so that you can start all over again?

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[LAWRENCIO11]

Originally Posted by maytag

So to be clear, the spoiler goes up once, and then stays there for good. It never comes back down. Not on its own, and not with the switch. And do you disassemble it to lower it again? Or under what conditions are you able to lower it again, so that you can start all over again?

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Yes, it never comes back down again on its own and with the switch button. We lower it again by reversing the current on the spoiler motor (and pressing the switch button for 'spoiler up').