996 Turbo Spoiler Repair Options

After a few years of seeping the hydraulics operating the rear spoiler have finally given up, left ram goes up, right ram doesn't. Left ram has a significant leak (now dripping), right ram has a very small seep. The car is a 2004 Turbo. This is quiet annoying as I have recently figured out how to disconnect the spoiler activation system without generating any warning in the instrument cluster, so I hoped that preventing the auto raise would buy me a few more years. I don't want to modify the appearance of the car, I won't spend £2k on a replacement mechanism (hydraulic or electric), I won't spend £1.5k on a send off and repair service, I do want the spoiler to function (I know that for my use the operation is largely cosmetic, but it has to work). I have time over the winter to fix it, I am OK with a spanner (within reason) but have never worked with hydraulics (other than working on brakes). So I am wondering what are my sensible options to fix? What solutions, costs and issues have others experienced please? Would a salvage replacement be an option? If there are no reasonably priced fixes I might consider a permanently raised modification where I recover the existing system and the posts replaced with fixed items. My concern here is that it will devalue the car, which is more or less standard. Thank you!

Mine has (and still does) function well, but I got a failure warning for the first time recently after cleaning the car. I started some research about tackling the job myself - when the time comes - and came across this link. https://www.revolution-porsche.co.uk/upgrades/porsche-996-and-997-turbo-spoiler-repairs-and-upgrades I’m not affiliated in any way and know nothing about this company, so would be good to know if anyone has used them. It’s a lot cheaper than the costs you mentioned so it may be a decent option. Let me know if you come across any other options. Good luck. John.

I had this issue on my 2003 turbo back in 2016, one side started to not elevate due to hydraulic ram leaking. I researched the options, winced at the OEM replacement price, and used these guys after referencing them and talking to them. Got comfortable they knew their stuff. http://www.p-speed.com/test/spoiler-defekt-hydraulik-reparatur-porsche-996.html . Was surprised that there wasn’t an obvious UK retro fix at the time as the failure is common. Price back then was €761 and it came with a tool for removal of the external ram to allow detachment of the upper spoiler, and full instructions. I had to disassemble the rams, electro-hydraulic pump, package it up and sent it all off to them. They refurbed it all and sent it back to me within a couple of weeks, I reassembled. It’s worked perfectly since. I have no way of checking this but they guy who ran the outfit walked me though how Porsche used cheap crappy hydraulic parts and seals, they overhaul using non-OEM better quality parts. Not sure if they are still active, I just checked out their Facebook page and doesn’t look that up to date. Hope this helps all the same.

Revolution Porsche are near my dad and he has used them for several years with nothing but praise for them.

Thought I’d update this post as it might help others. I looked at a few options. Seems that you can get the rams refurbished by others and then install them yourself, or hand the car over to a specialist to do the lot, or at the other end of the scale remove and dismantle the rams and try your luck with finding some seals that fit and cross your fingers when bleeding the sealed system afterwards. There is also an option for an electric conversion, seems that you have to import the bits from the US and it costs about double the cost of refurbishing the existing system. I decided that the money to be saved by doing part of the job isn’t really that great (about £200), and that leaves the risk of potentially getting air into the refurbed rams when connecting them back onto the car, and if it leaks again you’re back to square one. So all things considered I am, a year later, biting the bullet and getting the system refurbed at my local specialist. They have to send off the rams to get them refurbished. The advantage with this is that I get a lifetime warrantee, so that’s better than Porsche offered when new and any issues at all, ever, it’s back to the supplier for them to rectify. Also, I have seen some quiet complex bits about how to disable a naughty spoiler and prevent the warning lights illuminating. I have simply unplugged the two plastic electrical connectors from the O/S ram (and wrapped a sandwich bag around them to keep them dry); this stops the car from trying to raise the spoiler and I have no warning lights on the dash.

Can I ask how you're getting on with the repair two years later please?

Robbo21, I took the car in to be fixed in early August 2021 and got it back in September; it took two goes to get all the bits back from the refurbisher and to get it working. There was also an extra bill for some broken switches or similar inside the rams, not really sure what that was about, but that added about 20% to the cost. All works fine, if you look very closely inside the bonnet lid you can see that a hydraulic pipe isn't the original one, but other than that you'd never know. So for what you get it's a pricey fix, but seeing what the specialist was up against I am glad that I didn't try it myself and I no longer have to worry about it. The car has been laid up for the winter since then, so it hasn't had any use, but I am getting it out this week and from what I can tell the spoiler still works...

Appreciate the reply. Even with brexit VAT it seems this is the most cost effective way to sort this - I'll look at getting my local to help me out with it.