Also doing some gaskets and hoses while im at it...

Any tips I should know about the EGR cleaning while im at it? Did you guys clean the valve itself or just the EG lines themselves? What did you guys use?

Thanks

..particularly the point where the passage goes from horizontal to vertical just in front of the TB. IMO to do it well you need to remove the TB and clean from both ends.It's easier to remove the EGR valve with the TB off also.I used a piece if multistrand steel wire (you can put in in drill, but I didn't think of that at the time) and gumout and a wet / dry vac. One thing there's a heat shield behind the EGR valve, if you can loosen the bolt holding it (it between the heatshield and the firewall 13mm I think), you can get the 22mm nut on the EGR valve more easier.I used a dremel to clean the EGR.

Remove the two bolts that mate the EGR to the intake manifold before trying to loosen the 22mm compression nut. It'll save a little heartache. I tried AudiMick's wire trick, & it worked very well. I also used some pipe cleaners soaked w/ WD-40 to remove what the wire wouldn't on the passage's edges.

I tried cleaning the passage behind the TB a couple weekends ago. Unfortunately I couldn't get the hex bolts off the TB. Those suckers are in good. Might be a good idea to take the throttle body off b4 attempting to get to the EGR valve. Does sound like the major problem is the passage itself rather than the EGR valve.