Hello
       could someone give me some advice, i.ve noticed alot of soot stains coming out from the egr valve on my 1998 25 v6, the car also seems to run a bit lumpey, what is the cause of this, is their anything i can do, engine oil fine and clean  :-? :-?

Excessive build up of carbon deposits from exhaust gases.
Remove and clean EGR with paint stripper being careful to keep it away from your paintwork.

Hi
   Ok, will do. would this be caused by the car mainly been used for short journeys ie school runs and not reaching full temp.  :y

It's more likely that the valve has just jammed open at some point, due to a carbon build up, thus allowing a constant flow of exhaust gases into the combustion chambers.

Some members have eliminated this problem altogether by blanking off the EGR completely.