Well luckily only the #1 GP was bad, so I went ahead and changed it out. I ended up undoing the intake lower bolt from underneath, the pesky EGR collar and then took the IM off to see whats what. When ready, I put the IM back in place with about 6 of the bolts in tightish and ran the engine back up to temp.

The GP did come out without too much trouble although my HF 18 V impact gun didnt do the trick, so loosened the GP by hand....sloooowly. Yup it was carbon'd up good and put up a fight even when fully unscrewed.

I was able to ream out the GP hole with my home made version, got the new one in and back in business. The most fiddy part was that damned EGR collar. Not sure if it makes a difference, but screwing the lower IM bolt back in before tackling the collar made it easier.

Gotta do the EGR delete. Curious about where the EGR vapors go if not into the manifold...out the exhaust?

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Treetops
06 E320 CDI 127K Miles
87 300TD 231K Miles

99 E300 269K Miles-Sold