Lol, the control of that valves was a bit innacurate, even using a legit controller with the sensors working
Btw, as far i remember there are a few more valves along the game, so even if you pass level 2 with a savegame from someone else you are going to be trapped in the same problem later :/
Edit:
The same mechanic is used later to plant C4 explosives into walls... basically you need to "stick" the C4 packet to the wall, and then "turn left" and "turn right" a handle
So yeah... that movement is required many times along the game, i would say more than 20 times