I have a 97 F250, I have owned for 6 years. The truck started doing this about 3 years ago, and has gotten worse, but with all the conflicting input I have got from many people I haven't done anything about it. The valve on the bottom of the turbo (I have been told it is called the warm up valve) sticks shut when I start it, it first started doing it only in cold weather, now it does it every time I start it. If it doesn't do it right away when starting, if I try to drive it will shut at about 800rpms, causing it to act like an exhaust brake. I have been told to wire it open, that it won't hurt anything, but then I was also told that I will lose back pressure by doing that. If the truck is not plugged in, in any cold weather, it has a really rough start. Last year I replaced the glow plugs and the relay, it didn't change anything. The truck has 164,000 miles on it, I have done the exhaust and have a 4" susp. lift on it. Any ideas what could be causing this valve to shut? I have a few friends with the same truck and no one has had this problem.

 

Sometimes they get gummed up with goo and will act funny. Just so you know, it's called an Exhaust BackPressure Valve (EBPV) and it can be unplugged so it won't cause you any more trouble. You can also wire it to a switch in the cab and turn it into an exhaust brake if you want. Or, you can cut it out and weld the holes for the actuator rod shut and be done with it. If you go to the 94.5-97 Powerstroke forum down the page a ways, you'll find TONS of info on this. BTW, welcome to FTE!

 

Thanks, I have heard about unplugging it, but I didn't really trust my resource on that one, I'll give it a shot.

 

Turning it into an exhaust brake sounds like a great idea!

 

Welcome to FTE, dcate.

Moving this to the 7.3L PSD section.

 

Yep unplug it! you will never miss it. Well atleast until it starts leaking oil then you will really hate it!! But thats a story for another day.
The connector is a two wire connector right under the intake tubing attached to the turbo. Its usually bolted right to the turbo.

 

Can we get a "very common problems" sticky thread going?