egr removal

You can take it off with out a tune. I had my friend redo the egr valve and then shaved all the extra plastic off and then pluged it back in no check engine light or anything. You can buy the plug on ebay same thing i have just someone else already did it. it tricks the computer to think its still there.

But if I am reading this thread right, the only thing being truely tricked is the CEL/MIL. W/O a tune, some cars will still ping when it thinks there is inert gas being introduced, and there really is not. It seems to be hit or miss on whether someone pings, but it is something to think about.

Adam, I agree with the sentiments in your original post.

Good luck with the decision.

I agree with, why would you?

Unless you're going balls out wild w/ the motor, just leave the EGR on there. It won't hurt you at WOT, and you have only good things (mileage, etc) to gain from it...

My $0.02.

a real easy way to get rid of it is just get a block off plate from UPR and the egr sim plug in from ford fuel injection.com thats what i did, no regrets

Whether you plug in a cheater device, or rig the plunger, all you do is trick the check engine light. The only way to eliminate the potential detonation issue is to turn off the egr function in the ecu (chip, tweecer, pms, etc). And the only way to know if you're gonna have that issue is to eliminate the egr and see what happens. What occurred on someone else's car has no bearing on what might happen on yours - there are simply too many variables.

I suppose you could simulate it by disconnecting and temporarily plugging the vacuum line to the egr valve. That will make the valve non-functional (you'll probably get a C.E.L.) and you can see if detonation is an issue with your current timing/fuel. Listen for it under light load at throttle tip-in.