Genuine or fake Walbro fuel pumps - rough guide on how to spot the difference

You see the Chinese parts sites knocking out in tank fuel pumps for as low as $5 a unit in bulk so its not surprising there is the temptation to copy brands like Walbro and Bosch which are common aftermarket fitment. Indeed I recently purchased a Walbro 255 to replace my still original pump when I drop the fuel tank later this year.

The fakes tend to carry the right stamping on the casing and look identical to the genuine OE article to the cursory eye. I think I've managed to confirm my unit purchased in the UK from an eBay seller (a proper company) as original. According to Walbro the only way to ensure that you do buy one of their pumps is to buy direct from them and not via any reseller or dealer. That costs in the region of $100 plus handling, VAT and duty charges. So roughly twice what you can buy them or their fake cousins for locally. I bought a Walbro so haven't concerned myself with ways to spot a fake with any other brand.

First up the metal casing should look lightly dappled (right - genuine) and not smooth (left - fake).

The part number, serial and logo stamping should be clear and uniform right around the stamped area. Fakes often have non uniform depth in stamping indicative of a multiple stage process (probably hand held stamps and a hammer).

There should be the Walbro logo stamped into the metal (some obvious fakes apparently don't have this)

The fuel inlet should be straight (some fakes have tapered inlets)

The fuel outlet on the genuine pump has a tapered end fitting, fakes can have a rounded end.

The pump unit (255) should weigh in at 366g (with caps) plus or minus 1g

Probably the key physical test is the weight as the fakes tend to use plastic gears which you can only find out if you cut up the pump to look see, genuine Walbro pumps have metal gears.

So if you have a pump with a dull smooth casing, ill defined stamping, rounded outlet, tapered inlet and weighs in quite a bit less or more than 366g then chances are its not a genuine Walbro 255. Hopefully this will be of use to those who buy a Walbro 255 as a replacement pump and seek to verify it is indeed a genuine artical. If anyone has found any other identifiers of genuine over fake then may as well share those.

Good post

This would be hopefully to members buying new pumps, I was in that situation last year. Mods should make this a sticky since there's not a lot of information in regards to fake Walbro pumps