Question about EGR valve, replacement, and a part on the valve.

I did a smoke test on my 1994 Convertible Mustang with 3.8L V6 and smoke comes out of the holes on the bottom of the metal top where the vacuum lines plugs in to the EGR valve. I have done it with the key off--alot of smoke coming out and on, less smoke, but still significant. The smoke is not coming out where the EGR valve mates to the intake manifold. I have done searches and some say smoke out of the holes is normal, some say not--whay is right?

The EGR valve is a new replacement--installed 1 year ago--from Standard Motor Products, part number egv282. The original part numer has 2 numbers on top E9SE-9D475-A4A and on the side F0EE-9D460-A4A. The one I used comes up for my year, but the original has a side plate with a screw, whereas my new one has no plate--I had to do this because I broke the old one shown in the picture circled.

Can new plates be purchased? What are they called--I have done multiple searches and nothing?

Also, do I need to buy a new EGR valve or is there smoke normal?
Any help is appreciated.

This has been a learning experience for me, so I will post on what I learned so that others who come a long might have help figuring things out. Here is what I have found:
1. I have looked at numerous forums and postings and have come to the conclusion that the EGR valve should not have a significant amount of smoke coming out of the EGR valve "weep holes" during a smoke test. If there seems to be excess--even for a valve less than a year old, like what I saw in mine, change out the EGR valve.

2. The side plate I circled is not listed anywhere as a standalone part and there is no name for it that I could find. When you search for EGR plate and variations of that you only get delete plates to cover the manifold.

3. Some companies, like Standard Products provide the side plate for the EGR valves, while others do not--this is where I became confused. I had initially ordered the Wells 4F1260 EGR valve from Rock Auto but it did not have a side plate provided with it, so I assumed you had to use the one from the old EGR because no companies pictured the part, which cracked on mine trying to get it out. I then bought a Standard Products part EGV282, which does not have holes in the side and did not require the side plate--but the part number did not match my original. That EGR valve failed the smoke test after less than a year installed. I bought a wrong Standard Products EGR valve EGV271 that came up on Ebay and had a side plate and later found out it was wrong and promptly uninstalled it when I found out it was wrong. I then purchased the Standard Products EGV287 from O'Reilly's and this most matches the part numbers, aside from the original Wells, on the original. This one was installed and seems to work.

So, in summary Standard Products provides the side plates while the Wells does not--or I fot one where it had been left out. Try to install the one that most closely matches your original part number.

Take care,
Dustin