Skoda yeti 4x4 egr cooler replacement

Hi,

I have a 2010 Skoda Yeti 2.0 TDI 140 hp 4x4 with 380,000 km. Recently I noticed that the coolant level is slowly dropping. When I inspected the engine, I found coolant drops near the lower mounting screw of the EGR cooler (see photo). It looks like the cooler might be leaking, but could it possibly be something else?

The complete EGR valve assembly was replaced about 100,000 km / 9 years ago. The valve itself seems to be working reasonably well because I currently don't have any fault codes. In the summer I sometimes get occasional issues (slight hesitation during acceleration), but the symptoms seem to improve after using turbo cleaner (although I wonder if that might also cause corrosion).

Since the valve was already replaced once and the car has quite high mileage, I would prefer not to replace the entire EGR unit again if possible.

I was wondering whether it would be possible to replace only the EGR cooler without removing the entire EGR valve assembly. Removing the whole valve looks like a lot of work, especially on the 4x4.

My idea was roughly the following:

• remove one driveshaft for access

• disconnect the coolant pipe

• remove the 6 Torx bolts that join the cooler to the valve

• remove the two mounting bolts holding the cooler

From what I can see, most of the six Torx bolts appear to be accessible, although one is close to an oil pipe and another seems to be partly hidden behind the cooler.

In the video below the valve and cooler are separated, but in that case the valve has already been removed and is loose, which is not exactly what I am trying to do.

My main questions are:

1. Is it actually possible to reach and remove all six Torx bolts while the valve is still installed?

2. After removing the bolts, is there enough space to get the cooler out this way?

Has anyone done this on a Yeti 4x4?

Thanks!