my toilet valve has been making funny noises and generally taking a while to fill up the tank all of a sudden.. so i messed about with it and where it connects to the bottom of the tank it now leaks… oops, managed to turn the screw in the pipe to stop the water etc.

any tips to fix my valve assembly etc? or need to replace the valve unit that connects to the bottom of the incoming water and seal it with some gunk?

Sounds like the ball valve / float valve in the cistern has furred up with limescale. Remove it and clean it up or replace it. Not a difficult job if you've got some common sense and can weild the tools.

have you put the rubber grommet on the threaded section connection that leaves the bottom of the cistern? – it provides the seal. If its trashed replace it with a piece or two cut out from an old inner tube.

argh how frustrating, i just cant undue the plastic nut under the cistern that holds in the pipe and valve assembly to replace it or fix the leak with new washer etc, just dont have the tools, need a real narrow and short spanner due to the space (i recon it was assembeled with the cistern not bolted to the pan) will see if anyone at work has the tools on monday

also took apart some of the valve with a rubber washer in and all seems ok, cant take any other bits apart

There are plumbing tools for gaining access to awkward nuts. I have several. Crowsfoot spanner etc.

A new ball valve assembly should be around £7 and will fill quietly

If you get the washers for the old one, a cut condom and an elastic band to hold it on to the filler can cut the filling noise down a little.