red 59

I had read you have to take the intake manifold off to replace the pcv valve off. I didnt have to, but I can see why. It was easy with just a pair of pliiers and a wire. First I took the hose off then wrapped the wire around the wire and fished it straight up. When I pulled it out I pulled the wire with one hand and the pliers in the other. It took some force but it came out and didnt mess up the grommet. The only thing I took off was the black support from the egr valve that runs to the top of the maniflod. It wa salot easier than replacing the fuel filter.

Forerunner

You have the right idea but I also think you got lucky, in that your PCV valve was not stuck inside rock hard grommet. What year is your 3 VZE? Probably recent? Mine is 1990. I went the same route, but it took me 4 hours to do the damn thing. I removed all the little vacuum hoses, and tried to latch on to the PCV with very long pliers. After about an hour of trying to wiggle it out, I could see that it was frozen in there. That is because after 13 years the grommet turned rock hard, no longer rubber but a lock washer. It is a tight fit to begin with, and after it hardened, it completely locked the PCV valve in its hole. Well, I started picking at the grommet with anything I could reach it, pliers, screwdriver, etc. I broke off small pieces of grommet for about an hour and a half. What a nightmare. Eventually, by chipping away at it piece by piece, none of which were more than a 1 mm in diameter, I got about half grommet out. The PCV valve was wiggling a bit, now that the hole was a little bigger. I latched on to it with channel locks if I remember, and tugged on it for another 20 min. No go. Eventually, I pulled it one last time with my entire body weight. I almost fell backward but the darn thing finally came out. I was then able to fish out the last half or so of the grommet. It felt like it was made out of hardest plastic you can find, not rubber. Thinking I would only do this once, I obtained a new grommet from Toyota and an original Toyota PCV valve. It is a tight fit, took me probably another 30 min to coax the thing into the hole. Bottomline - total nightmare, terrible design - who the heck thought of putting the PCV valve in that practically inaccessible location? This valve better last the rest of the life of this engine now, haha

red 59

Mines a 91. Im glad I didnt have that much problems.