Counterfeit Z32 MAF sensors (pics)

[Matt]

Investigating a VLT computer and Z32 AFM today. Result was computer was fine running in my car and afterwards then trying their Z32 AFM ... it didnt work

Looks to be one of those chinese copies. It struggled to run with my current tune in there which works on the Nissan Z32 AFM

Below is how to spot the differences. First image is from a genuine unit

Customer email:
Following pictures comparing two AFMs. AFM closest to the box is from 4.3 vlts @ 18psi, other AFM is 5 vlts at 18 psi

UPDATE
It does not matter whether or not the MAF has official logos or not. The only way to really know is open up the unit and check against our pictures. Check your source of MAF supplier is legitimate. Anything which smells like Ebay or Ali Express is more than likely going to land you with a counterfeit unit

[Legionnaire]

Interesting! Mine has no nissan badge, but has protective/flow stabilizing mesh on both sides of it. p/n 22680-30P00, orange sticker.
Those 'measuring elements' on a counterfeit one look dodgy as if they were home made.
May I enquire where do these fake afms come from?

[MichaS14a]

Thanks for the Infos! Then I have an original one.
I have the Nissan badge on the side, the measurment element looks like the one on the first pic and the number is 22680-30p00.

I have a mesh on both sides of the maf. Is there any way to remove one mesh to clean the measurment element and the inner side of the maf without destroying the mesh?

[Matt]

this one had mesh on both sides

you have to pry away the plastic holding the mesh in around some of the edges to get to it and clean

as for the AFM not working, I now believe it is due to incorrect wiring (from what I can see they put 12volts into the 5v signal output line which will kill any AFM) after inspecting the plug

Also the copy does not have A,B,C,D,E,F printed near the plug. I found this last night whilst trying to work out the wiring

There are lots of Z32 AFMs on ebay... I suspect they come from there and other sellers getting them from china

[skyline_stu]

Interesting one Matt, I had the same trouble on Saturday with a copy, bet you got it from the same place as my client Ian did. I've got some info here on identifying a fakey too :
Some visual things that gave it away as a fake

1. Jecs ID sticker was inside the box loose.
2. No 'O' ring on sensor mounting flange
3. The heated measuring elements were not very straight in the housing
4. Even for a brand new unit, the box didn't have JECS, Bosch or Nissan on it.
5. It was wrapped in a bit of butchers white paper
6. Finish on the body was really rough as compared to the genuine item
7. The connector pins were copper color, not gold plated and looked weird
8. Cheap screws with deformed heads holding the MAF connector in place, which were badly installed
9. It rattled when we shook it.
10. The mesh screen wires' were distorted

And upon opening there was a diode installed 'back to front' on the signal output pin, which actually was the POWER IN PIN - which may well have saved things getting toasted

See picture attached. I bet the calibration curve's right out the door too......

The seller also states on their Ebay page that
"The unit's have been tested on their OWN S15 vehicle" What a outright lie about this pile of crap part.

*** FOLKS, JUST DON"T BUY EBAY COMPONENTS FOR YOUR VEHICLES, ITS SIMPLY NOT WORTH THE RISK SAVING A FEW DOLLARS TO CREATE A POTENTIAL FAILURE AND THE ASSOCIATED TROUBLESHOOTING ***

The USA's got a dedicated counterfeit unit to weed out these companies - now they've taken NISSAN off the body and it's sold as a non genuine part.

[Fusion Ed]

Couldn't agree more. I had major issues recently only with really careful logging and producing graphs did I realise that the engine wasn't reading load correctly, it turned out the 'new' Nissan afm was in fact a fake Chinese unit. Exactly the same as skyline_stu posted above.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS THEY DO NOT WORK,

They are very crude internally have NO rf shielding etc just look at the difference here:



They are also very cheaply made. I managed to remove all the hard black substance off the board on mine but unfortunately there chip on it was scrapped off. It looked as though it could have been some kind of MCU. Either way the whole thing is just plain horrid.

[skyline_stu]

8 pin device ?? It's probably just an OP AMP.. I didn't get the chance to look at the board as I was burning up hours already and way behind schedule.....

Stu

[Fusion Ed]

Yep may have been that too. In fact probably more likely so.

[chris2712au]

I had one and it will work on idle.. but soon as it is in the mid range.. filthy rich... the bastards delivered it in a bosch box with the sticker on.. I was pretty pissed..

[Fuzzy]

Fake or orginal?

look at the price

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... MEWAX%3AIT

edit:
I found this
Achtung: Produktfälschung!! Warning: Produkt is a worthless fake!!!!!! Member id dolphin-gemini ( Feedback Score Of 657) Mar-19-10 04:01
NEW BOSCH 0280217503 MAF OPEL oem nr. 0836576 (#270538681591)

[Zuikkis]

Interesting! Mine has no nissan badge, but has protective/flow stabilizing mesh on both sides of it. p/n 22680-30P00, orange sticker.

All Z32 AFMs don't have the Nissan badge for some reason.. But just a look at the measuring wires will tell you if it's original or not.

[skyline_stu]

Interesting! Mine has no nissan badge, but has protective/flow stabilizing mesh on both sides of it. p/n 22680-30P00, orange sticker.

All Z32 AFMs don't have the Nissan badge for some reason.. But just a look at the measuring wires will tell you if it's original or not.

ALL Genuine factory parts have the sticker OEM fitted. Otherwise how would they know what they were selling? There are other ways to determine if it is fake - the GENUINE housing should have NISSAN on the injection moulding. See the above pictures. These are becomming far more common these days. I've even tested several the units on a flow bench in parallel with a NEW Genuine Z32 - the copies' output calibration is just a joke. NONE OF THE FAKE MAFS EVEN MATCHED EACH OTHER !!!

Imagine that you, the user tunes your vehicle and gets 'average' performance. You FAKE MAF fails in service. You replace it with another FAKE. Due to the calibration being different, performance is worse than before - or heaven forbid, you have an engine meltdown !!

This situation happens more often than not..

Stu

[Zuikkis]

Interesting! Mine has no nissan badge, but has protective/flow stabilizing mesh on both sides of it. p/n 22680-30P00, orange sticker.

All Z32 AFMs don't have the Nissan badge for some reason.. But just a look at the measuring wires will tell you if it's original or not.

ALL Genuine factory parts have the sticker OEM fitted. Otherwise how would they know what they were selling? There are other ways to determine if it is fake - the GENUINE housing should have NISSAN on the injection moulding.

All factory parts have the sticker, when they leave the factory. The sticker might come loose though, on a used part. Also there is some AFM's with a sticker that say "remanufactured OEM part" or something like that, the sticker is different to normal Z32 AFM but it still has the same 22680-30P00 code.

However, perhaps 5-10% of Z32 (or RB20/RB25) AFMs don't have the Nissan logo on the moulding.. Most of them do but not all. I have no idea why this is so, but it is. Not my fault, sorry

So in theory you could come across a real Z32 AFM with the sticker accidently removed and no Nissan logo.. But in that case the measuring wires will tell you which one it is. Could be a RB20 AFM too, though, they are identical to Z32 AFM except for the measuring range.

[Matt]

With regards to re-manufacturing, ECUs will have 2371M rather than 23710

Is this also the case with 22680 prefix on AFMs then? Should we expect 2268M?

[Zuikkis]

With regards to re-manufacturing, ECUs will have 2371M rather than 23710

Is this also the case with 22680 prefix on AFMs then? Should we expect 2268M?

I can't remember, it was some time ago.. It might be that it only had "30P00" and no prefix?