My Clic-R pliers arrived today and as the rain finally stopped I've been out to investigate the PCV valve.
Undid the clip for the side connection easily enough and eased the pipe off, then with wiggling and brute force with pliers managed to move the clip underneath round until it was accessible and undid that too.
Removed the PCV valve and finally, now I could access it, undid the idiotically-oriented jubilee clip fixing the short flexible tube underneath to the metal pipe below it.
Took the valve apart, which needs care and a bit of force - I used a large flat-bladed screwdriver to lever open the catches a tiny bit at a time, working round.
Took the diaphragm out carefully and checked it was in good condition.
It looked fine though a bit oily so I cleaned everything thoroughly with white spirit and isopropanol and reassembled carefully. I then checked (by sucking/blowing on the ports in turn while covering/uncovering the other one) that it was working OK and not leaking.
Put it all back on the car, ensuring that both Clic-R clips and the jubilee clip were oriented for easy access in future.
. Ran car briefly to check it was OK.
Time will tell I guess whether the problem is still there.
Footnote on the Clic-R pliers. The ones I bought were pretty cheap and didn't work that well (at first), especially for reclosing the clips.
Looking at videos online and pictures of seriously expensive ones I could see that the blades were poorly shaped. They had been initially forged or stamped then ground to shape inadequately. Quickly fixed with a metal file.
For reference, if anyone else gets these and has problems, the pliers are asymmetric; one side is a wedge, the other more like a chisel.
The problem with mine was that the "outer" face was rather rounded, from poor finishing, resulting in a thick working edge of varying thickness that prevented them making a good contact in the right place on the clip. I filed them down giving good flat working surfaces with narrow (but not sharp) edges where they press on the clips. The chisel edge in particular need to be quite thin to work properly.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation".
(A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course.
(internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
