Weather permitting, I'm going to clean my MAF sensor and EGR valve this weekend. I've been reading through older posts and think I'm prepared except for:

1) I got the new EGR gasket (with the screen)...I assume this gasket goes in dry (no sealer)?
2) I've never had the EGR off before, so I don't know what it looks like inside. While I'm cleaning, is there anywhere I shouldn't spray the cleaner, or just go crazy spraying everything inside I can get to?
Thanks

 

#1 - yep, dry.

#2 - spray it all over inside. There will be two holes, an in & an out. You may want to grab an old tooth brush or a brass pipe cleaner to help remove some of the stubborn carbon buildup.

 

As I'm prone to do, I've been overthinking about what I read in some of the cleaning EGR threads. I plan on trying the "start the engine with the valve off but turn it off quickly" to clean out the tube from the exhaust manifold...the warnings being that the engine will race because of the large vacuum leak on the intake manifold port.
Couldn't I just plug that port? I still wouldn't let it run long, but it seems an easy way to let the engine run more than just a second or two so any debris in the tube can be blown out.