2.4 d5 euro 3 in 2004 xc90

[Hodge911]

hi all only my 2nd post [1st was to say hi]
i bought a 2004 xc90 2years back , first thing i did after owning for 2 days was to replace the timing belt , water pump tensioner and idler [used genuine volvo bits] along with new aux drive belt , tensioner ,idler and alternator free wheeling clutch pulley. and a full service . first ever volvo owned and loved it . [carried out all work myself as used to be a mot tester / mechanic but retired in 2012 after a serious back injury resulting in the first 5 vertebrae in my spine being fused together] . all well until mid October when the bottom pulley separated and allowed some of the aux drive belt to wrap around bottom timing belt sprocket and causing catastrophic damage to the head .
i,ve eventually found a good replacement head so set to t replace knackered one . i was amazed to see the amount of black sludge/carbon build up in the intake system . so i set about cleaning and polishing the whole system before rebuild see pics . i also removed all valves and fully decoked the head and had valves and seats recut and lapped in .
my Q now is can i blank off the E.G.R valve where it bolts to the intake elbow ? to help keep everything clean as having all that gunk in the intake system cant be good