EGR deleted?

[fixkick]

hi all,

i have a 1998 vitara/sidekick (santana made), 16v/1.6L/5door/g16b.

EGR system looks exactly like this:



fact: EGR valve works and is clean.

fun fact: inside the plenum (throttle body removed) there seems that somebody (PO maybe or crazy mechanic?) has welded a 'triangle' patch exactly where the EGR gasses are fed into the plenum (again, inside). effectively, EGR is pretty much deleted. vehicle runs perfectly. should i bother drilling a hole or not?

ps: i know i should have taken a picture. i disassembled everything for cleaning last night. idle jumped 400rpm by cleaning the (carbonated) throttle plate and the idle screw... (then readjusted to 850rpm hot).