Yes, I suppose I could have tore into the valve first, but the purpose of
the post was for someone to respond who has done this before, and is
familiar with the internals of a plastic valve. Right now it's dripping
occasional on a basement floor. Once I go for it and it's not easily
repairable, then I have a worse situation ...since the valve is in cramped
quarters and would be an s.o.b. to replace. That's why I asked first.

"No" wrote in message
oups.com...
You could probably have pulled off the nut and looked faster than
posting here. if you can get the nut off, what could it hurt to try and
add some packing, even if none existed before? Worst case you cut off
the valve and put on a new one. Costs just a couple of bucks. You may
need to couple in some more pipe to make up the length. Still not that
big a deal.