egr causing problem when disconnected

Just a FYI post. A lot of people assume disconnecting the vac hose is enough to see if a EGR is causing engine smoothness problems, i found out today it isnt. Mine worked, still works, but last couple days its been idling rough, and hesitating on acceleration. Using carb cleaner around engine, i found if i sprayed it into middle of EGR where the pintle rod goes thru it, the engine would die, So i took it off and cleaned it, no good, even tho it worked, it just would not seal at idle, tried and tried, no seal...blocked EGR port till i get another one, all engine problems are gone now.
And it never set any codes either.. SO just that slight leak was causing rough idle, surging under light throttle, sort of a bucking feeling.. Hard to believe how sensitive these engines are (2.8-3.1)

Just a FYI post. A lot of people assume disconnecting the vac hose is enough to see if a EGR is causing engine smoothness problems, i found out today it isnt. Mine worked, still works, but last couple days its been idling rough, and hesitating on acceleration. Using carb cleaner around engine, i found if i sprayed it into middle of EGR where the pintle rod goes thru it, the engine would die, So i took it off and cleaned it, no good, even tho it worked, it just would not seal at idle, tried and tried, no seal...blocked EGR port till i get another one, all engine problems are gone now.
And it never set any codes either.. SO just that slight leak was causing rough idle, surging under light throttle, sort of a bucking feeling.. Hard to believe how sensitive these engines are (2.8-3.1)

this is why if i suspect egr i remove and check for intake blockages, and also reinstall with a gasket that has no holes. then i expect the engine to start pinging under load. it only takes a small vacuum leak to cause extremely lean running engine.