Spoiler dash light is on - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

supersparker · 01-27-2007, 02:40 PM

Hey all, Supernoob here, just bought a 2000 Boxster S with 14K miles on it. Car checked out OK but I have noticed that the spoiler dash light is on. The manual switch works but I don't think it will raise automaticly. Any quick fix?

wanna986 · 01-27-2007, 06:22 PM

Congratulations on your purchase!
Do you actually know if the spoiler raises or not?
Could just be a sensor error.
Good luck.

Jeph · 01-27-2007, 07:31 PM

Just to cover all bases, does the light stay on while driving it? It's supposed to go off after driving forward a second or two.

supersparker · 01-28-2007, 10:19 AM

Thanks for the replies! Yes the spoiler will raise in manual mode to the fully extended position, just won't automaticly extend while driving. The dash light stays on even after the car is running.

Jeph · 01-28-2007, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supersparker

The dash light stays on even after the car is running.

Sorry, semantics kicking in here... not running, but actual forward driving? Does it stay on while driving forward for a little bit.

krn986 · 01-28-2007, 12:33 PM

mine turns off after like a couple seconds.

denverpete · 01-28-2007, 01:34 PM

I have this problem as well - but the spoiler does actually raise and lower (you'll have to have someone follow you - or be really bendy - to see). With mine, once the spoiler activates the light turns on. That light says one of two things, either it didn't raise or it didn't raise fully.

Rodger · 01-28-2007, 05:21 PM

I found once that failing to lower the spoiler all the way with the switch prevented it from going up and down on its own. The light also stayed on.

Might try lowering it fully then driving.

supersparker · 01-30-2007, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schnell!

I found once that failing to lower the spoiler all the way with the switch prevented it from going up and down on its own. The light also stayed on.

Might try lowering it fully then driving.

Took your advice. Looks like that did the trick. Someone might have manually raised just enough to "trip the light up"

Tks

wanna986 · 01-30-2007, 08:13 PM

Wonderful!

MNBoxster · 01-30-2007, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by denverpete

I have this problem as well - but the spoiler does actually raise and lower (you'll have to have someone follow you - or be really bendy - to see). With mine, once the spoiler activates the light turns on. That light says one of two things, either it didn't raise or it didn't raise fully.

Hi,

That light simply indicates a malfunction, two of which are the ones you mention. A third possibility is speed calibration.

The DME needs to know when to raise and lower the spoiler. This means that it needs to know how fast the car is going. To insure that the spoiler doesn't fail to rise at 75MPH (creating an unsafe condition which the Driver is unaware of), the DME re-calibrates itself on each startup. This why the dash light comes on to indicate a speed fault. Only once the car has attained 3MPH is the DME capable of doing the calibration. Once it's satisfied that it is properly calibrated, the light goes out.

But, if say you were to lose a Speed Sensor, or some debris clipped the wire, or such that the DME was no longer receiving a signal from the Speed Sensors, the dash light would come on to alert the driver of the system fault so as not to exceed 75MPH until the fault is isolated and corrected...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

denverpete · 01-31-2007, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

That light simply indicates a malfunction, two of which are the ones you mention. A third possibility is speed calibration.

The DME needs to know when to raise and lower the spoiler. This means that it needs to know how fast the car is going. To insure that the spoiler doesn't fail to rise at 75MPH (creating an unsafe condition which the Driver is unaware of), the DME re-calibrates itself on each startup. This why the dash light comes on to indicate a speed fault. Only once the car has attained 3MPH is the DME capable of doing the calibration. Once it's satisfied that it is properly calibrated, the light goes out.

But, if say you were to lose a Speed Sensor, or some debris clipped the wire, or such that the DME was no longer receiving a signal from the Speed Sensors, the dash light would come on to alert the driver of the system fault so as not to exceed 75MPH until the fault is isolated and corrected...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Point taken. But, at least in my case, the spoiler light turns off after beginning to move. Then, the spoiler raises at 75 MPH and the light comes on. The spoiler also lowers at 45 (or whatever) but the light does not turn off until the vehicle is turned off.

RandallNeighbour · 01-31-2007, 10:03 AM

One note of caution while we're on this topic for any newbies reading... if you are unsure if your spoiler is raising fully or at all, do not drive too fast until its repaired. That spoiler wasn't put there for good looks... it keeps the back end of your car on the ground at high speeds.

Last thing you'd want to do is lose control of your car while pushing triple digit speeds (on the track, of course) <--- good save, huh Richard?

wanna986 · 01-31-2007, 03:12 PM

That spoiler wasn't put there for good looks... it keeps the back end of your car on the ground at high speeds.
Are there any concrete numbers on that somewhere?
How are people that disable or put aftermarket spoilers on affected?

Travis · 01-31-2007, 03:41 PM

I've had my spoiler disabled / removed due to the fact I had the Aerokit spoiler put on in it's place. As long as you have a functioning spoiler I see no issues.

But as Randall points out it is needed, I had washed my car and raised the spoiler manually to clean and did not lower it all the way. So now i am off for a fast dry/drive and hit about 85 and feel the back start to wiggle pretty good.

With the new spoiler and front bumper on it handles quite nice at higher speeds 110 - 120, (on the track of course

)

Quote:

Originally Posted by wanna986

That spoiler wasn't put there for good looks... it keeps the back end of your car on the ground at high speeds.
Are there any concrete numbers on that somewhere?
How are people that disable or put aftermarket spoilers on affected?

RandallNeighbour · 02-01-2007, 07:30 AM

Wanna986, I do not have concrete "numbers" on the requirement for my car's spoiler. However, my owners manual states that it comes up at 75 miles an hour to provide stability when driving the car at this speed or faster. Moreover, it states that if it malfunctions, I should drive the car at reduced speeds to my dealer immediately to have it repaired.

This could very well be CYA on Porsche's part, but I don't think so personally.

Common sense tells me that they would probably not go to the trouble of engineering it for the car and making it a standard option if it did not matter and was there for looks... which aren't all that great if you ask me.

I can't think of any sound reason I would want to disable mine to find out if it really is needed or not... that's truly throwing caution to the wind in every sense of the phrase.

MNBoxster · 02-01-2007, 07:36 AM

Hi,

DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS - THIS IS UNSAFE!

Legal disclaimer out of the way, if one were to doubt the necessity of the Rear Spoiler, all one would need do is perform a little experiment consisting of disabling the Rear Spoiler by removing fuse D7 from the main fuse panel, and then drive it at speeds in excess of 50-80MPH to observe any aerondynamic instability. This would either confirm or remove any doubt.

But, as mentioned - DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS - THIS IS UNSAFE!

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

RandallNeighbour · 02-01-2007, 08:06 AM

Amen to that!