Loud truck

How do I check the egr valve. I took it off to see if there was anythign obvious but I didnt notice anything. I did pull a little piece of round burnt up steel wool looking stuff. Thanks for the reply

I found the steel wool looking stuff in the brass colored cylinder that surrounds the actual valve. I assume that if the egr valve was startign to rot out it would be obvious. I thnk the problem is in either the exhaust manifold or the intake manifold becasue those are the only two parts I removed. Or the carberator. I dont know if I forgot to put something back on or what but I have been messing with this truck for about a week now and it just seems to be getting worse. Is it an absolute necessity that I torque the bolts holding the manifolds on to the specifications because I did not. Is there anything in the carb that could make my truck loud or does it pretty much have to be the exhaust? Thanks again for all the help

There may be a exhaust donut where the pipe bolts to the manifold that is leaking. Did you take the intake manifold off as well? Is this a 6 cylinder engine? Did you make sure to clean ALL of the old gaskets off and inspect the mating surfaces?
It is important to torque the bolts and in proper sequence as per the service manual.

I did not do any of those things. I didnt think it was the donut because when I pulled the pipe off it didi not have a donut in it and it was not leaking from there but I guess it couldnt hurt to put one on. I didnt take the manifold completely off, I just pulled it away from the engine, pulled the old gasket out and sli the new one in. I didnt torque the bolts properly or clean the surface either. I didnt know the stupid thing could be so sensitive. I guess that is probably where my problem is. Thanks for the info.

Your particular application may not use a donut. But if any of the gasket material was left intact, it wouldn't properly seal whether torqued correctly or not.
Also, you can usually re-use the carb. Base gasket, but if it doesn't seal properly, it will cause a vaccuum leak, poor idling, and stalling.

I got it all straightened out. There was a little piece of the old gasket left on the manifold. I didnt know that it would make such a difference. Thanks for all the help. Ill look you up next time I have to get my truck inspected.