Hey Guys,
My 1997 F250 Powerstroke was blowing a lot of white smoke at start up so I took it onto my local diesel mechanic to have the glow plugs and glow plug relay looked at. Indeed, 2 plugs were shot and they replaced them (with my consent). But when I went to settle the invoice, they informed me that they also had to replace the Exhaust Back-Pressure Sensor because they said it was throwing a code and it was going to cost me an extra $125.00. Well, I unplugged the wire to the valve 2 years ago as I didn't care to have the thing opening and closing all the time creating all that backpressure. I informed the service manager of that and he stated the the technicians surely would have checked for that (they were conveniently gone at the time so they couldn't confirm whether they checked for it or not). I havn't had a chance to open up the hood yet but my question is: If the EBP valve is made inoperable by disconnecting the wire to it, would that throw and EBP sensor code? If the answer is "yes", then I think they are trying to rip me off. If the answer is "no", I'm still not paying for it because they did it without my consent and I have no intention of using the EBP valve anyway. All input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Rod

 

Bottom line, they shouldn't have replaced the sensor without your consent.

 

you are correct in every aspect stated above stand your ground. and if im not mistakin it will throw the code.

 

They should have called you first whether you needed one or not. That's just inexcusable, underhanded behaviour.

 

Unplugging the actuator does set a code.

 

not sure what he unplugged. i thought it was the sensor. who knows???????

 

Unplugging the sensor sets a code too.

 

Hey Guys,
Thanks for all of your input. To clear things up...it was the actuator that I unplugged! I had a look under the hood today and the wire to the actuator was hooked back up again. So that tells me that the technicians hooked it back up knowing that it was probably responsible for throwing the sensor code...but decided they would install a new one anyway in the hopes of maybe getting away with it. Well they're not! Too bad there's still businesses out there trying to pass themselves off as honest and trustworthy. Buyer beware I guess. Hopefully, others will learn from this. Thanks again!
Rod