ok, so I tried to feed the wire through the EGR passage, and that's a lost cause. The passage is so intricate, I can't even imagine how someone would do that. So I think that eliminates that option, unless someone can give me a better idea of how/where to try and feed the wire. The other thing is, when I took the throttle plate off, the gasket behind it was shot to all hell (torn, burt, ect.) I did some searching of my own, but the only gasket I can find for purchase is the EGR valve gasket. Any advice as to where I can get an intake gasket set? One other question, I know it's not doing the engine any favors, but will I be hurting the engine in any way by driving it while it has this problem?

 

Get a new EGR.....You'll just be boggy as hell with a CEL

 

Polo boy, I was going to try and use your method, but it seems like you still haven't solved the problem of getting to the bottom four bolts from the manifold to the head. Can you clear that up for me?

 

I had the same problem, and getting the IM off is well nigh impossible, so took the air chamber off, and used some wire with a piece of cloth tied to the end, tons of carb cleaner and a borrowed air compressor, and manage to get the wire/cloth down the EGR passage, dumped carb cleaner and then blew it out with compressed air-did this about 10 or more times, and it worked!! That was about 15K ago, and still no CEL. Don't think it hurts the motor-but you'll wanna either remove the injectors, or clean them afterwards, get lotsa gunk on them. And no, the CEL for EGR won't hurt the motor, it's just annoying-the EGR only operates on closed throttle to reduce Nitrous emissions.
good luck

 

Not to resurrect an old thread, but I've now replaced the EGR valve and gasket, and the light STILL came back on, so this means I'm going to have to take things apart and get in there to bust that shit out. My concern now is hurting the engine or something else by leaving the bottom piece of the manifold on while I clean it, because a lot of the crap that comes loose (not to mention carb cleaner) will go down the intake, and get sucked in. Won't that mixture of carbon bullshit and carb cleaner mess up the intakes?