What's inside the knock off LS6 MAF's
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 7:47 pm
Alright so I got an LS6 MAF for my L67 because I plan to add more boost to it in the next few weeks.
I bought mine from the 'reputable' seller who for some time has been known to sell genuine LS6 MAF's for a very reasonable price.
However I seem to have got unlucky and got sold some cheap knockoff.
The issue with the knock off MAF's is that the MAF frequency drops off rapidly almost immediately after pulling the car on full boost. This causes erratic fueling resulting in the AFR's spiking to 20+ causing the engine to stumble and break down.
The Knock Off MAF's are surprisingly fairly hard to distinguish from the genuine part. There are however a few subtle differences which tell the two apart:
Knock OFF:
+ Only has 2 Hot Wires (Blue in color, and are smaller than the genuine ones)
+ A diode replaces the 3rd Hot Wire...
+ Has a white sticker on the flat side and no barcode at the bottom.
Genuine:
+ Has 3 Hot Wires (Grey in color, slightly fatter)
+ Has original Delphi part number markings engraved on the body of the unit
+ Has no white sticker on the flat side.
Now that I have no real use for this MAF; it was time to pull it apart and see why exactly was inside and why they decided to use a Diode instead of a Hot Wire.
Before I go any further; here is a picture of the blue Hot Wires / Diode I mentioned earlier:
Here's the picture of the white sticker too: I pulled the cover to reveal the PCB... there is some form of non-conductive gel which covers the PCB: This gel stuff comes off fairly easily with a little cotton bud and some light rubbing.
Once you get most of the gel off; soak the PCB with some Acetone. After a minute or two, take another cotton bud and rub the PCB down lightly. The gel should now 'peel' off the board exposing the raw board.
Once you have cleaned up the PCB you can dry off the remaining Acetone.
Under closer inspection, the Knock off MAF uses a 16 bit Digital Signal MicroController manufactured by MicroChip. It's a fairly decent chip. Part Number: dsPIC30F2011
Tomorrow I'll remove the track going to the Diode and see what impact this has on MAF Frequency when flowing high amounts of airflow.
I bought mine from the 'reputable' seller who for some time has been known to sell genuine LS6 MAF's for a very reasonable price.
However I seem to have got unlucky and got sold some cheap knockoff.
The issue with the knock off MAF's is that the MAF frequency drops off rapidly almost immediately after pulling the car on full boost. This causes erratic fueling resulting in the AFR's spiking to 20+ causing the engine to stumble and break down.
The Knock Off MAF's are surprisingly fairly hard to distinguish from the genuine part. There are however a few subtle differences which tell the two apart:
Knock OFF:
+ Only has 2 Hot Wires (Blue in color, and are smaller than the genuine ones)
+ A diode replaces the 3rd Hot Wire...
+ Has a white sticker on the flat side and no barcode at the bottom.
Genuine:
+ Has 3 Hot Wires (Grey in color, slightly fatter)
+ Has original Delphi part number markings engraved on the body of the unit
+ Has no white sticker on the flat side.
Now that I have no real use for this MAF; it was time to pull it apart and see why exactly was inside and why they decided to use a Diode instead of a Hot Wire.
Before I go any further; here is a picture of the blue Hot Wires / Diode I mentioned earlier:
Here's the picture of the white sticker too: I pulled the cover to reveal the PCB... there is some form of non-conductive gel which covers the PCB: This gel stuff comes off fairly easily with a little cotton bud and some light rubbing.
Once you get most of the gel off; soak the PCB with some Acetone. After a minute or two, take another cotton bud and rub the PCB down lightly. The gel should now 'peel' off the board exposing the raw board.
Once you have cleaned up the PCB you can dry off the remaining Acetone.
Under closer inspection, the Knock off MAF uses a 16 bit Digital Signal MicroController manufactured by MicroChip. It's a fairly decent chip. Part Number: dsPIC30F2011
Tomorrow I'll remove the track going to the Diode and see what impact this has on MAF Frequency when flowing high amounts of airflow.