My waste gate is failing. What does it do? My mechanic showed me mine during the rev cycle and it wasn't moving.

 

Your 97 has a wastegate? I think we need a little bit more information as far as what your truck is doing or what symptoms lead you to believe that your wastegate has failed (especially since your 97 does not have a wastegate unless it's undergone some major modifications).


What exactly did your "mechanic" show you when he was talking about a wastegate?

 

i think you need a new mechanic, i he was probabaly showing you your back pressure valve, which only closes for warm up.

 

He said the waste gate was attached to the underside of the turbo. Is that the back pressure valve?

 

yup sure sounds like it.

 

I asked the mechanic about the waste gate. He said it's just a general term and Ford doesn't call it a waste gate. He said it is a back pressure valve.

 

... No, its not a general term. I would find a new Mech.

Its an exhaust back pressure valve, and the only time it should move is when the PCM orders it to, which is on cold start up only... Unless he was running a KOER test, then he has no way to "tell" you its not working.

 

your mechanic sucks, get some one who knows what they are talking about.

a wastegate and a backpressure valve are not even similar.