97 s10 4.3L VIN X p1406 and p0300 codes

[jc64il]

The p1406 comes up after a few miles of driving, and the p0300 shortly after. I cleared them both twice and they come back the same way.

I pulled the egr valve and looked at it, seems to move freely in and back but only a small amount. Any way to make sure it's truly bad? Hate to shell out 165.00 for something I don't need. ( I about fell over) used to be 40 dollars not too long ago...

The engine doesn't appear to be mis-firing, actually runs pretty good except for the service engine light being on.

I need to emission test in a couple weeks so the MIL has to be gone.

Any tips appreciated.