EGR Valve in Navara STX550

[spiezzy]

hi all I have a 2011 STX550 and discovered today that the EGR has been blocked off at both ends on the EGR pipe on top of the motor is this a normal thing to do on these engines should I unblock it as I would have thought the EGR is a integral part of the exhaust system any thoughts would be greatly appreciated
cheers pete

 

[Old.Tony]

EGR is designed to choke up the combustion process so that it doesn't get hot enough to produce oxides of nitrogen. It's only partially successful anyway and reduces the available power because of the incomplete combustion. There's a catalytic converter that's supposed to further reduce NOx output but it only catches 15% and requires a hydrocarbon reductant (and in our case, diesel fuel) to work. Damn things are designed to waste fuel.

Blocking it at both ends is quite acceptable.