PCV Valve I took that pic for another member. I've changed the PCV valve on my 5th gen relatively easily because there is a decent bit of room around the valve but I was looking at the valve in the pic above last night and there is no room unless your hands are the same size as a 3 year old. The hose is so short between the valve and the metal pipe that sucks out the gas that I can't really see how a person would do it.

Am I right to think that one way is to just take the hose off first, then use some pliers - probably destroying the PCV valve in the process (they can be pretty stiff to pull)- and just rip it out?

i took off the hose on the pcv valve and the one above it and patiently used a pair of small pliars to wiggle it out and pull it off. just watch your hands and don't get scraped up.

i just replaced mine 3 days ago, so i know exactly how you feel.

thers a bracket on the top, loosen that, itll give you like 1/2 cm more play in the hose, then you can wiggle it out, i slightly cracked the hose, learned afte rthat that i had to loosen the little bracket, good luck, its a 2 minute job

I did it by hand. Then again, I have hands the size of a 14 year old korean girls. Makes working in tight spots easy. It was even easy to change my fuel filter.

I ended up cutting some of the rubber hose because the install was next to impossible!!!
my advice: needle-nose pliers...

good luck!
FLO_BOY

just tug on it but be careful not to break it

I found the easiest way to do it was to unbolt the brackets on top of the manifold that holds down that pipe connected to the hose and PCV and release any harnesses above the pipe that get in the way as well. You have to squeeze and move up the clamp holding the hose to the PCV first. Just slide it up the hose an inch or two. This way the whole assembly moves as one unit. There's no need to take the hose off. I used a long needle nose pliers and a screwdriver as a fulcrum from the front right side of the engine and pryed that little bad boy out. The new one needs to be lightly tapped in. I used the needle nose again but from above this time. Caught the body on both sides of the opening and it went right in.