So I have a ODB code 51 (EGR).  I have a 94 tracker with the 8V and 130,000 on it.
First question, pros vs. cons of clean out vs replacement of the EGR.  I can afford the EGR but not by much.

Second question, is it really as easy of a swap as it looks?

Third question, how hard is it to clean out?

I found this walk through http://www.kick-fix.com/EGR.html so I am leaning towards pulling it and cleaning.

Thank you.

Clean it first, if that fails then replace it.
That's what I would do

Wild

Thanks goody.  The reason why I'm fence sitting is that I don;t want to clean it, everything runs great, and then 6 weeks latter out in the woods I'm broke down.

EGR isn't one of those things that goes so bad it leaves you stranded, it's purpose
is to add a little exhaust to the intake mixture, which slows down the burn rate of
the combustion, and in that process reduces the NOX emissions. It's purely a smog
control device.

One of the things that happens is the passage in the head gets plugged, and the EGR
system just quits working, you will find out at your next smog check if the NOX is too
high, you won't pass, so clean it out, worst case is you might have to pull the intake
and exhaust manifolds to get access to the passage, but you should start with a shot
of naptha, AKA Techron from Chevron, it's used as a cleaning agent in Jet Fuel and keeps
carbon from building up, it will help to dry and break up that nasty old hard carbon, if that
fails you might need to pull it down to manually clean the carbon out

Wild

Now that's a big slice of helpful, thank you.  Other then the Chevron gas, any adatives that will help?  I had the engine stumble once on the highway and it spooked me.  I'm planning on camping next week and don't want any issues.

NM, 2 minutes in the net and I found http://www.amazon.com/Chevron-TECHRON-Concentrate-System-Cleaner/dp/B0002KKKGC so I'll just get some at the chevron.

Thanks again Goody.

You can buy it that way, or at the hardware store, and apply the
naptha directly to the carbon, added to the gas won't do much
if it's plugged already, tho it won't hurt.

I stopped buying cheap gas when the prices started being about
the same, the biggest difference here is like .05 so I just get Chevron
most of the time, at the additional cost of $1.00 at 20 gallons buy,
who cares and I get a better (I think) gasoline

Yeah, I went to the spray and wash and got all the mud off the engine.  I'll get the gasket tomorrow and pull it.  Now that I can see it instead of mud it looks really easy to pull.