EGR Valve question, able to clean without draining coolant?

[the fatty]

My EGR valve has been putting the car into limp mode, so for the last year or so I have just unplugged it and although the MIL is on, the car isn't in limp mode anymore. Its a B8 3.0tdi (CAPA) engine. I would assume it needs cleaning, but looking at the procedure, it says the coolant need to be drained first. Is there a way to remove it without draining the coolant?

its this version (not the version with the O-ring):

If anyone knows a way or has any advice, I would be most welcome! My DPF hasn't been able to do any active regens for 20Kmiles, and I assume that's because the EGR needs to be functioning to this to take place.

 

[bobby singh]

If you don't touch the egr cooler you should be fine.
However, I would just drain it and use the opportunity to refresh the coolant.

 

[the fatty]

ok thanks @bobby singh. do you know what that third hole for on the mounting?

 

[the fatty]

Just feeding back my experience with this in case someone else finds it useful. As soon as i removed the bolts for the EGR valve, the coolant ran out (well everything that was in the top part anyway. After removing the bolts I also became aware that its impossible to remove the EGR valve without removing the coolant pipe which is fed directly to it anyway, and on top of that, there is a bolt on the bottom of the valve that is nigh on impossible to get to without removing half the car. So I did the bolts back up (check the gasket was still in place), fingers crossed there wont be a problem with airlock.

The good news is, i did manage to fix the EGR valve issue. Basically it was really sticky, so much so that the spring loaded mechanism was having no effect (located under the black cap on the motor). So I sprayed some WD40 inside the outlet hole (with the manifold to EGR valve pipe removed) and moved the valve up and down manually a few times, and with time it started to become free. Its now moving very freely (as it should), so I have put everything back on and everything seems to be working all ok. I will probably have to repeat the process at some point in the future because i see it getting bunged up again.