Toyota Repair: 2001 Camry, onboard diagnostics, universal connector

Question
My check engine light came on about 3 weeks ago one mechanic stated it was the EGR valve needing replacement. While another thought just clening the system out would help well the cleaning took place check engine light went out but came back. Also now the car is making a sputter noise not sure what's happening.  It has 226000 miles but I need about another 75k out of it don't want another car note until my spouse vehicle is paid off.

Answer
You can buy a OBDII reader (OnBoard Diagnostics II).  This machine is plugged into the universal connector (I believe yours is located near the brake pedal below the steering wheel.) and, after you enter the vehicle info (year, make, model, etc) it reads all your error codes.  It can even reset the old error codes.
This may be all you need.

Not sure what the sputtering is but it could be from the "cleaning".  Sometimes the "cleaning" knocks loose a bunch of crap which doesn't get removed, simply moved to a new location; in your case this looks like what happened.

Hope this helps.

Vince