Hydraulic ram for rear wing, anybody re-built one?

[jl-c]

Hi, as the title says, has anybody on here rebuilt one? My master one (one with the microswitch on it) is leaking oil and I would appreciate some pointers in how to strip/rebuild and top up the system when done!  

Many thanks!

[phillipj]

I have the same issue and refuse to give Porsche $3500 for the parts.  There is a poor mans fix using Lucas power steering stop leak.  Haven't gotten around to trying it yet.  Others have done this with great success.  This was done by a poster on Rennlist

 

1. Open rear deck-lid with spoiler in down position
2. Put towels/plastic over the engine to keep fluids from dripping onto engine or body parts.
3. Remove approx. one dozen bolts that retain shroud/fan to deck-lid
4. Loosen and remove 4 retaining acorn style nuts that hold pump onto shroud
5. Cut tie wraps that retain electrical wires and hydralic lines so pump can be removed
6. Lift pump off shroud, loosen and remove banjo fittings on driver's side of pump watch for fluid to leak out and catch in a paper towel or rag. I held pump with channel locks for a good hold while loosening
7. Remove the positiive and negative wires on the opposite end of the pump.
8. Unplug sensors on passenger side ram carefully as they are sensitive. They are under a plastic cover that pulls off
9. Turn pump upside down in proper waste recepticle to empty the fluid remaining
10. With 12 volt power source, connect positive and negative to pump connectors. You will feel the torque and hear the pump motor turning, have a towel ready to catch any remaining fluids
11. With pump in hand, slowly add fluid. The Lucas product has a snout that you can cut and place into recpticle. This took approx. 20 minutes of adding, waiting for it to seep into pump, add more, wait, add more, etc...until bubbles stop coming up. Pump should then be full
12. Carefully attach banjo fittings with pump held upright. A small amount of fluid will seep when attaching banjo bolts 
13. Torque the banjo bolts snug
14. Place pump onto shroud, tighten acorn nuts and connect wires
15. Connect sensors to ram (I used a tie wrap to hold sensors in place)
16. Place shroud in position on deck lid and snug up the dozen bolts
17. Tie wrap the electrical wires to the shroud
18. Actuate spoiler from dash with key on to see if you get the warning light

I have actuated my spoiler several times by button and driving and works great. Good luck!

__________________
Mike

[DaveCarrera4S]

I tried the power steering stop leak as well.  3 months later I had Pentosin leaking down the back and over the bumper.  I found a better solution and started a company to provide it to fellow turbo owners...

[jl-c]

Well, just as a closure to my original question. I stripped the system down and found one ram (microswitch one) leaking from the swage at the bottom and the other ram had the internal spring in 3 pieces. cut the top hat section off the two rams and had a pair of tops turned down for me and had thread cut into the original ram so I can screw the top on as required. I soldered up the swage joints and replaced the O rings on both rams and bought a pair of new springs. Rebuilt rams replacing crush washers etc. Suspended twin cylinder above the level of the rams which were back into the rear lid and removed the complete plunger assembly from both "syringe bodies". Filled both bodies up to the top with CHFs 202 mixed with 10% Lucas stop leak .Crack off the unions on top of each ram (rams obviously retracted by the spring action) and let the fluid bleed out. Lock the unions up again, top up the two cylinders, insert plungers and reassemble whole pump assembly using thread lock as required. Apply power and all fine. Reassemble lid and refit to car. Fully working again and if required I can easily replace O rings in the future. Very satisfying repair! Total cost under £200, just a touch cheaper than Porsche!