My EGR valve is clogged, have questions

[LonesomeSTX]

The 87 Ranger I recently acquired has a 2.9 and it ran really rough. I have found several possibilities but I have not put it back together yet. One thing I am addressing is the EGR valve. The port in the air plenum was so clogged I needed a half inch drill bit to clear it. It was clogged all the way through. I pulled the EGR valve off and it is in good shape, but was clogged and I cleaned it as well. Then I found the tube that runs from the exhaust manifold to the EGR valve is also completely clogged. I get what the EGR valve does and how it works. However, I do not see how all these parts can get so clogged. What would cause this, and what kind of problems will the truck have has a result? I have deleted mechanical EGR valves on old trucks like this before; but is it a good idea?

 

[adsm08]

Lots of things can cause the build up on the intake side of the valve. Some build up in the intake is normal, even on a perfectly running engine, and over 20 odd years could block the EGR port.

The tube being blocked probably indicates it was running rich for a long time.


As for deleting it, to just remove components will cause some issues. I would throw an 88+ computer in it, which is not programmed for EGR, so it will never miss it.

 

[LonesomeSTX]

I did not know about that trick.