Re: Check twice for compatibility

Has anyone been brave enough to try a $25 Chinese MAF sensor in a Boxster?

Ed B

1 if feeling cheap, you might try a $5 cleaning first (3M MAF cleaner)
2 i do recall replacing 3 of the famous Audi ignitions switches all of which failed again, but the 3rd, $8 from china, worked for me and the next owner
3 But int he grand scheme, since its output is critical and must be precise, why would you tale the chance?

I suppose int he end the o2 sensor will tell you if its wrong

Grant

There is nothing inherently wrong with Chinese parts except that you don't know what you're getting. The quality could be good and the quality could be bad. There are a bunch of Chinese (and others) suppliers of aftermarket MAFs for Boxster. It would be great to find one that is good because the factory part isn't terribly reliable and is expensive to replace.

note my comment about the chinese switch on Mom's audi all those years ago.

Note also iPhones are made in china

The question is: "by whom, using what process, and with what quality control"?

If its a simple matter of Bosch paying lower wages and avoiding environmental regs, then it will likely be fine.
If its genero stuff made in a boiler room, maybe not so much.

Unfortunately you need to find out one (brand) at a time

The good news is that its easy to replace. Maybe twice

G

The MAF is a critical component in the proper fueling of the engine.

If the OE or its replacement is bad then I'd replace with an OE MAF. I would not gamble on an unknown MAF. Even if the MAF didn't generate any errors how do you know it will do its job of accurately measuring the amount of air the engine is using under all conditions? You would essentially be using your engine as a MAF test bed. That's a lot to risk for saving a few hundred dollars on a MAF.

My experience has been the factory MAF is a robust and long lived component. Except for an approx. 100K mile "break" (when I replaced the original MAF due to a mis-diagnosis) the original MAF is still going strong with in total around 200K miles on it. The one in the 996 Turbo is fine after 147K+ miles.

If your car's MAF is bad I'd replace it with a genuine Porsche replacement.

What makes you think the MAF is bad?

By coincidence, someone asked this question in the Aug 2016 issue of Porsche Panorama. Their answer (paraphrased) was: we've had good luck with aftermarket MAFs. Just make sure the vendor looks reasonably reputable.

Quote
Boxsterra
By coincidence, someone asked this question in the Aug 2016 issue of Porsche Panorama. Their answer (paraphrased) was: we've had good luck with aftermarket MAFs. Just make sure the vendor looks reasonably reputable.

Ok then. If someone's offering you a $15 MAF if he's in a suit its good.

What a way to buy parts.

Bosch has manufacturing plants all over the world including India and Malasia. Do you know where your MAF sensor was made?

Ed B

At $25, you got nothing to lose. Get one, and let us know how it works out.

The years of compatibility seem to be incorrect everywhere, including at Porsche. Pretty much everywhere MAF product pages say that they are compatible from 1997-2004, which is not possible since there is no single part that is compatible with non-egas (1997-199) and egas (2000+). Make sure you check the actual part number.

The product descriptions are also inconsistent, often claiming "for egas" when the model # and product picture are actually for the non-egas model. The alternative seems to be "without traction control" which is also a red herring since this is irrelevant to the MAF sensor.

In case you're unsure about which part a product page is selling there is an obvious physical differences between the non-egas and the egas models:

(1997-199 NO egas)


(2000+ YES egas)


So if you believe the picture then that's a good way to determine if you have the right one.

At one time I thought from folks posts I understood the compatibility between the Porsche parts and the OEM replacements. But further reading led me to know I wasn't right and so I removed that section. O2 sensors are easy and I used the OEM Bosch parts myself. Anyone who knows for sure, please post.

The Porsche parts and corresponding Bosch parts are well understood because both part #s are printed on the OEM part. And if you match the aftermarket part to one of these two #s it should work fine. It's the "compatible with your vehicle" charts that are incorrect for the MAF.