Cayman 981 rear spoiler - Page 4 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Had my GTS 2 months nearly and my rear spoiler seems to go up and down fine as you would expect but when it retracts it doesn't seem to retract completely, maybe a 5mm gap (more than usual) I can push it down to where it should be easily. Anyone else have similar, is there a way to recalibrate the spoiler into the closed/retracted position?

Freakuk said: Had my GTS 2 months nearly and my rear spoiler seems to go up and down fine as you would expect but when it retracts it doesn't seem to retract completely, maybe a 5mm gap (more than usual) I can push it down to where it should be easily. Anyone else have similar, is there a way to recalibrate the spoiler into the closed/retracted position? Have similar. At one point I had a "not a fault" (no message) issue with the spoiler in which it wouldn't retract. Seemed to rectify itself after holding the button down seemingly forever. After that it would resume auto deploying/retracting, and would work again with the button. Though yes, I have the 5mm gap. Haven't taken it in yet since I don't consider it to be a major issue to warrant the time to have it poked at. As long as it deploys at speed or on demand I'm merely annoyed, not concerned.

I took mine in (CGTS) as noticed the same gap, could have sworn it closed tighter but maybe I'm wrong. Took it in to the OPC in the end because it failed to deploy once, and then another time failed to retract (one time only for each, not able to repro). Had it checked out and all looked OK according to OPC, they did a software reset too, told me the closure was normal and not to worry.

I had a loner 981c which seemed to have a bigger gap when the spoiler was retracted compared to my 981C... I've since started to get paranoid that mine sits higher than it used to when fully down. Best if we all take a picture from the rear tail light across and see how proud it is to the rear light....we can then compare!!

taken tonight (don't know why that last pic keeps coming out upside down no matter how I post/download it): taken when picking the car up in October:

It's not something I'm overly concerned about, more curious if others have the same issue. I'll get my OPC to have a look at some point in the future.

Mine is almost the same of the one in the picture above. There is 2-3 mm gap between rear light case and rear spoiler top edge. Once it seemed to me not completely retracted, I've tried to put it up and down again but same gap is still appearing. Not error messages so far. Hi think is just normal, but better quality would be appreciated.

Looks pretty normal to me, try spraying some silicone on the arms? This is 17 months old and also upside down?

Does this look the same as yours, gents?

FrankCayman said: Does this look the same as yours, gents? Yep, looks just like my mine. Always feels like it should be flush with the rear light swish, hard to know if we're being fussy or if that is indeed normal.

PastaSource said: Yep, looks just like my mine. Always feels like it should be flush with the rear light swish, hard to know if we're being fussy or if that is indeed normal. Jolly good! Many thanks for your feedback. Yes, odd that that couldn't lower just a few more mm's.....

Maybe it's a feature, it niggles me but maybe it's worse on a white Cayman like mine as it's more noticeable?

Frank wins the 'Most Misaligned Spoiler' award, 2015.

Just zoomed in to an old photo I took of my car when brand new back in 2013 It looks like it has moved up a good 5mm. Car going in next week for a few bits....will get them to look at it then....

This is my S if it helps... doesn't look perfectly flush but it's not so far off. [/URL] [/URL]

Cheers Rob, Yours seems to be in the same position as mine is now...probably 3-5mm higher than the tail light line I see via the link below, there are adjustments to be made.....will have a word with my OPC next week and report back! http://www.planet-9.com/981-chat/86413-question-ab...

I would never have noticed but for this thread! Looks like it is adjustable from your link. Am due a service shortly as the miles continue to rack up... no doubt OPC can play with it then. Let us know how you get on.

rob.kellock said: I would never have noticed but for this thread! Looks like it is adjustable from your link. Am due a service shortly as the miles continue to rack up... no doubt OPC can play with it then. Let us know how you get on. Will do, Rob. How many miles have you clocked up in yours? I am around the 43,000 mark....

Mine is like the red S one above. (CGTS, 700miles)

rob.kellock said: Manual car, I take it?

Just coming up to 19k. Had done 6k when I bought it in May. Not manual, so quicker than a GT4 from the lights ;-)

rob.kellock said: I would never have noticed but for this thread! Looks like it is adjustable from your link. Am due a service shortly as the miles continue to rack up... no doubt OPC can play with it then. Let us know how you get on. +1 I just went and checked mine tonight and noticed it, wish I hadn't now! It will annoy the crap out of me. How the OPC says there is a easy reason for it happening / able to adjust easily

Trotmant said: wish I hadn't now! It will annoy the crap out of me I know...I can't look at my car now without wanting to push the bloody thing down. Hopefully will be able to report some good news next week after a trip to my OPC!

FrankCayman said: Trotmant said: wish I hadn't now! It will annoy the crap out of me I know...I can't look at my car now without wanting to push the bloody thing down. Hopefully will be able to report some good news next week after a trip to my OPC! Snap!!

Snap again.

have we go an answer from the OPC yet?

Trotmant said: have we go an answer from the OPC yet? Going tomorrow morning. Will report back.

FrankCayman said: Trotmant said: have we go an answer from the OPC yet? Going tomorrow morning. Will report back. Thanks - Already irritated by it. Tried on the weekend to reset it by putting it up and down, then letting the car do it etc... no joy

Just washed mine and there is a definite mismatch between the spoiler top and the feature line on the tail light. Bit worse on the right than the left. Not overly concerned though, if I mess with it, I will probably break it?

nsm3 said: Just washed mine and there is a definite mismatch between the spoiler top and the feature line on the tail light. Bit worse on the right than the left. Not overly concerned though, if I mess with it, I will probably break it? FWIW my the front of my spoiler aligns well with rear hatch and the sides with the rear wings, BUT is above the line of the lights and the gap below it is (about) 4 or 5mm. My rear hatch shuts pretty easily (and some forum contributors have problems in this area) - so my hatch may sit a little high, but doesn't rattle so I'm perfectly happy with it. I think it all looks fine (to me) , and I wouldn't have thought to look more closely had the issue not been raised.

nsm3 said: if I mess with it, I will probably break it? Same here...hence why I will leave it with the OPC! Weird how the thing has moved up 5mm over the last couple of months. Just hope they don't fob me off with 'they're all like that, sir'...I have before and after photos on my phone!

Finally out of hibernation (we had nearly 9 feet/280cm of snow in 7 weeks). Misaligned Cayman GTS spoiler as promised. Used to sit flush until it stuck open for a while after a wash. Gap is ~8mm instead of the usual 2-3mm.

FrankCayman said: rob.kellock said: I would never have noticed but for this thread! Looks like it is adjustable from your link. Am due a service shortly as the miles continue to rack up... no doubt OPC can play with it then. Let us know how you get on. Will do, Rob. How many miles have you clocked up in yours? I am around the 43,000 mark.... Wow 43k, how long have you had the car? that is some going, assume you don't care about residuals??

Well......went to my OPC and we looked at several of their cars.....some second hand, some new. Tech said he'd never heard of any issues before, which made my heart sink....plus didn't fill me with confidence at the thought of him attacking my spoiler with a wrench! The second hand cars spoilers were all over the place...but the new cars were nice and flush.. The Tech said he could make adjustments to mine....BUT this would have to be re booked in as it would take 2 hours AND it wouldn NOT be covered under warranty. As I'd already sat there for 2 hours waiting for my 111 check to be complete, I wasn't in any mood to argue the toss, so paid the £1,811 to extand my warranty for another two years, then left feeling a bit cheesed off!! On my drive back I started thinking 'why should this only happen after a period of time'....and 'when I get back to the office, I am going to give the bloody thing a good push'... However, after a bit of investigation, I realised the spoiler was stable when fully up....it was also stable when full down. Sooooooo, I manually lifted the spoiler via the button to a position approx. 1 inch up from it's 'down' position. This then had a bit of play. I gave it a gentle wiggle, then popped the spoiler down again. It SEEMS to have sorted out the problem!!! I am thinking it just needs a bit of lube, but will take a look at the weekend when I have more time. Would be interested to hear if any of you guys come up with anything??

Trotmant said: Wow 43k, how long have you had the car? that is some going, assume you don't care about residuals?? 2 years and don't care! My high mileage Porsches have always performed better from a residual point of compared to equivalent value BMW's and Audi's I've owned in the past!! I had a 987 Boxster brand new £39K....sold 3 years and 85,000 miles later for £18,000.00.

Interesting this has come up now. I had one of the first 981 Cayman's (2.7) off the line back in 2013, my spoiler did the same after a matter of weeks. And, as previously mentioned, in white it is really obvious! I took it to my OPC who had three people come out and look at the car, all of whom said they couldn't see the what my issue was! So clearly I was not alone! Clearly didn't put me off though.... pick up my GTS tomorrow!

FrankCayman said: Well......went to my OPC and we looked at several of their cars.....some second hand, some new. Tech said he'd never heard of any issues before, which made my heart sink....plus didn't fill me with confidence at the thought of him attacking my spoiler with a wrench! The second hand cars spoilers were all over the place...but the new cars were nice and flush.. The Tech said he could make adjustments to mine....BUT this would have to be re booked in as it would take 2 hours AND it wouldn NOT be covered under warranty. As I'd already sat there for 2 hours waiting for my 111 check to be complete, I wasn't in any mood to argue the toss, so paid the £1,811 to extand my warranty for another two years, then left feeling a bit cheesed off!! On my drive back I started thinking 'why should this only happen after a period of time'....and 'when I get back to the office, I am going to give the bloody thing a good push'... However, after a bit of investigation, I realised the spoiler was stable when fully up....it was also stable when full down. Sooooooo, I manually lifted the spoiler via the button to a position approx. 1 inch up from it's 'down' position. This then had a bit of play. I gave it a gentle wiggle, then popped the spoiler down again. It SEEMS to have sorted out the problem!!! I am thinking it just needs a bit of lube, but will take a look at the weekend when I have more time. Would be interested to hear if any of you guys come up with anything?? Thanks Frank be good to see a before and after photo. I assuming you also have let the spoiler come up 'automatically' again and see it retract back to a flush position. For me this is the key proof point. Also when you say 'wiggle' do you mean you pushed down on it, if so where did you apply pressure to the sides or in the middle?

Trotmant said: Thanks Frank be good to see a before and after photo. I assuming you also have let the spoiler come up 'automatically' again and see it retract back to a flush position. For me this is the key proof point. Also when you say 'wiggle' do you mean you pushed down on it, if so where did you apply pressure to the sides or in the middle? Hello mate...apologies for late reply. I gently held the spoiler around the two struts when it was approx 1" before closing and literally gave it several careful wiggles, then put it back to it's closed position. I have since driven it for over a week with the spoiler moving up and down automatically, and it seems to have worked or at least made it alot better!!!

Trotmant said: Thanks Frank be good to see a before and after photo. I assuming you also have let the spoiler come up 'automatically' again and see it retract back to a flush position. For me this is the key proof point. Also when you say 'wiggle' do you mean you pushed down on it, if so where did you apply pressure to the sides or in the middle? Hello mate...apologies for late reply. I gently held the spoiler around the two struts when it was approx 1" before closing and literally gave it several careful wiggles, then put it back to it's closed position. I have since driven it for over a week with the spoiler moving up and down automatically, and it seems to have worked or at least made it alot better!!!

FrankCayman said: Trotmant said: Thanks Frank be good to see a before and after photo. I assuming you also have let the spoiler come up 'automatically' again and see it retract back to a flush position. For me this is the key proof point. Also when you say 'wiggle' do you mean you pushed down on it, if so where did you apply pressure to the sides or in the middle? Hello mate...apologies for late reply. I gently held the spoiler around the two struts when it was approx 1" before closing and literally gave it several careful wiggles, then put it back to it's closed position. I have since driven it for over a week with the spoiler moving up and down automatically, and it seems to have worked or at least made it alot better!!! Thanks Frank, tomorrow I will attempt them same! Will let you know how I get on.

2013 BS with 18k miles and the spoiler fits flush with no problems but I have noticed that the spoiler seems to be rubbing the bodywork paint underneath, presumably from movement when retracted. Haven't taken this up with OPC yet but will do shortly. Maybe the spoilers now sit a bit above the bodywork to protect the paint. Anybody else noticed this?

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I thought I'd add to this issue. My CGTS is at my OPC having adjustments made due to the spoiler alignment shifting from new. I've just had a call to say it will be ready for collection later but it currently has the rear bumper off while they re-align everything. Not what I was expecting as I thought it would just be the spoiler assembly that needed a tweak! I'm assuming it'll come under a warranty repair, at least I hope it will

Yes........... Mine is a 5mm gap. But, mine stays up all the time cos in yellow it just looks great! Sometimes it goes down, don't laugh!...... For motoway driving to save on grag for fuel? I also do not want it flying up and down in auto...... Mine does as its told, not what the car thinks it should be doing.... Sometimes when its down, and some prat is behind me, I put it up and that confuses the man behind thinking that I will blast off any second.....they then stay behind for some time? Oh the enjoyment of a moveable rear spoiler can enduce this madness Gadgit.

All sorted under warranty. The whole spoiler assembly had to be lowered several mm which is why the bumper had to be removed. It was worse on one side than the other apparently. So if yours is wonky, see your OPC

Funnily enough, I put my wing down for the first time in weeks yesterday (yes, I admit it...my wife said it looked better with it up, so that's how it stays!) and the 'fitment' was crap. Gap underneath the wing seemed large and the edges of the wing were at leat 5-7mm proud of the rear lights. (Doesn't sound like much, but it's very obvious) Is it possible that they are all like that, or is this something for me to raise with the OPC?

If it wasn't like that from new then raise it with the OPC. Mine shifted over time as from new it was spot on. It'll be adjusted under warranty as mine was

I'm owner #2, mate so I wouldn't know - I didn't really pay much attention to the rear wing fitment until I saw this thread, so it could be that it was like that from the factory. I'm not bothered - I'm more bothered about the bloody 'plasticy' rattle I get over my left shoulder whenever I hit a rough road....which is all the time at the minute thanks to the council's rushed roadworks spend in April.

It should still be under warranty, I'd take it in. Regarding the rattle, I have one of those too My car is going back to the OPC for 2-3 days in a couple of weeks for the rear trim to be stripped out and put back in again in order to cure it

Twinfan said: It should still be under warranty, I'd take it in. Regarding the rattle, I have one of those too My car is going back to the OPC for 2-3 days in a couple of weeks for the rear trim to be stripped out and put back in again in order to cure it Mine has already been in once for the rattle = the problem is that it's one of those things that you can guarantee behaves itself as soon as you get a mechanic in the car...you spend the whole test drive saying, "I swear, it does it!". Ha ha Obviously not cured all that well the first time.

I spoke to the tech who was looking at it for me (he also did the spoiler alignment). He struggled to hear it at first then worked out a way to do it on demand - top bloke! He'll be the one stripping the interior down when it goes back in. He thinks that during assembly something near the aluminium strut you can see in the rear wasn't tightened securely and it's worked loose. Half the battle is getting the tech on your side so hopefully my rattle will be cured

Funny you should say that - mine 'feels' like it's the silver strut you see across behind your head. Certainly that's the thing I always feel like I want to put my hand on to stop the rattle - not that it does of course! Curious.

Could be the same thing then. I thought mine was the glove box at first, but as it got worse it was clearly over my left shoulder. As I turned my head left it was easier to work out where the noise was coming from (nearside rear quarter). I thought it was an exhaust heat shield that had worked loose until the OPC diagnosed otherwise.

Twinfan said: Could be the same thing then. I thought mine was the glove box at first, but as it got worse it was clearly over my left shoulder. As I turned my head left it was easier to work out where the noise was coming from (nearside rear quarter). I thought it was an exhaust heat shield that had worked loose until the OPC diagnosed otherwise. what was the diagnosis? As we have the same rattle...cheers

Twinfan said: Could be the same thing then. I thought mine was the glove box at first, but as it got worse it was clearly over my left shoulder. As I turned my head left it was easier to work out where the noise was coming from (nearside rear quarter). I thought it was an exhaust heat shield that had worked loose until the OPC diagnosed otherwise. You're describing exactly what I am experiencing - I even opened the glovebox for a while this morning to rule that out. Do OPC's ever share knowledge? A central point where one OPC can post the solution to a particular symptom so that others can avoid the endless trips back and forth and the hunting?

Interesting that I'm not the only one then! I don't know the exact cause of the rattle yet as it's still to be solved, but the tech working on it has narrowed it down to something under the interior trim behind the passenger seat and around the aluminium bar you can see in the rear. It's back at the OPC again at the end of the month for 3 days to cure it.

Twinfan said: ...narrowed it down to something under the interior trim behind the passenger seat and around the aluminium bar you can see in the rear. Yep - this exactly. Will raise it again with my OPC.

Hi All, Fairly new 981 owner and at the weekend I saw another 981 spoiler and then decided to check mine. Mine looks higher up on the left side when compared to the right. Sent a pic to the Porsche garage where I got it from and they have booked it in. They aren’t telling me yet if it will be on the warranty or not though. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

It's normal but they can be adjusted a little. Be prepared to accept that it's 'close enough' but not perfect.

It’s odd, but they are nearly all like that. Don’t think there is a fix.

Koln-RS said: It’s odd, but they are nearly all like that. Don’t think there is a fix. Yep, I thought they’d be a little margin to make it visually perfect but nope. It doesn’t bother me, must be a nightmare for those with OCD though.

I had mine adjust 3 times and it was never perfect. You have to accept 'good enough'

Twinfan said: I had mine adjust 3 times and it was never perfect. You have to accept 'good enough' Yes I agree I think everyone will be different. Out of interest did they do this under warranty or did you have to pay?

I had it done under warranty, all in the first 3 years of the car's life. I don't know if the extended warranty covers it or not.

Ok thanks. I’ll ask when they reopen before taking it there

Are there any updates on a solution? My Cayman has the same affliction. I'm confident Porshe didn't design to sit up so high as there are strips of PPF on the panle below and also two rubber buttons on the underside of the wing to prevent the spoiler going too far down.

andygo said: Are there any updates on a solution? My Cayman has the same affliction. I'm confident Porshe didn't design to sit up so high as there are strips of PPF on the panle below and also two rubber buttons on the underside of the wing to prevent the spoiler going too far down. The spoiler is adjustable from inside it, not read the full thread if anyone else has mentioned it, the painted top can be removed easily with only a few torx screws holding it in. I took mine off to wrap in carbon fibre and found more adjusters that lift the whole top spoiler up/down/side to side. Its pretty easy to adjust just a bit of trial and error to get it centred and height correct.

I bought a 981 CS in November from Porsche, noticed the spoiler not re-seating correctly straight away. Took car into OPC end of December. Haven’t seen it since! They reckon it needs a new motor but sounds like they are replacing the who thing as they are on about painting it. Part on back order expected early March. Not willing to let me drive it with faulty spoiler now have an estate as a courtesy car. Not very happy as you can imagine. Edited by GRJon on Saturday 18th February 08:55