Leaking toilet with no fix?

[jjbodean1970]

toilet leaks into the bowl, so its always running. its an eljer model, about 22 years old, odd squared off elongated seat. i have replaced all the guts of the tank, flappers multiple times, fill valve, flush valve, nothing fixes the small leak. it has a small stream trickling into the bowl at the very front. i am at a loss other than buying a new toilet.

any thoughts on one last chance to fix it?

 

[titanpat57]

The donut that fits between the tank and the bowl is defective(it's also where the flapper seats). That'll mean pulling the tank again, but why it's off verify that the casting of the porcelain isn't off..if it is, buy another tank or just get a whole toilet.

 

[jjbodean1970]

The donut that fits between the tank and the bowl is defective(it's also where the flapper seats). That'll mean pulling the tank again, but why it's off verify that the casting of the porcelain isn't off..if it is, buy another tank or just get a whole toilet.

i've replaced that, too. i'm leaning towards a new toilet, not a big deal, its just aggravating that i cant figure this out after throwing all these parts at it.

 

[AJP]

Make sure that the flush valve SEAT doesn't have a crack in it. Bright flashlight and run your fingernail around the perimeter of the seat to ensure it is smooth .. look carefully for cracks. Also I presume you have ensured that the flapper is coming down on the center and at the correct angle to the seat. If this isn't the problem ... I'd replace it.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Check on that flapper again,make sure its not a universal,some eljers needed just the right one. MIke

 

[titanpat57]

Well if you do lean towards the new toilet...i think the Kohler 1.6 have a pretty good product. I've been replacing the bad ones at work with them..and after about 40 or so they seem to be holding up well. I'm gonna say they seem to clog less.

Make sure you get an elongated bowl so Big Jim and the Twins have lots of streching room....

 

[jjbodean1970]

Well if you do lean towards the new toilet...i think the Kohler 1.6 have a pretty good product. I've been replacing the bad ones at work with them..and after about 40 or so they seem to be holding up well. I'm gonna say they seem to clog less.

Make sure you get an elongated bowl so Big Jim and the Twins have lots of streching room....

i just redid a bathroom and used the gerber viper with elongated bowl and it performs really well, will probably go that route if i do a replacement.

mike - been using a variety of fluidmaster flappers, will see if i can find an eljer specific one, thanks

 

[Toyo FJ40]

Turn off the water to the toilet, the water level will go down to the point that it's leaking. It has to be the flapper or flush valve or flush valve gasket. The only other think I've seen is if you stuff the bowl fill tube from the fill control way down the overflow pipe it will siphon water down the overflow but that shouldn't happen on a new fill control because they are antisiphon.

 

[nspctr1]

I installed a new toilet in my in laws house a few years back and the damned thing did the same thing. I replaced the flapper and valve even though they were brand new and still leaked. I spoke with a plumber buddy of mine and he said to check the area where the flapper sits, sometimes there is a rough or high spot from the casting and it needs to be sanded down. That is what it was, a little sand paper and it was good to go.

 

[DSRTRDR]

also, if you have soft water, a fine slime can develop that will lead to poor sealing between the flapper and the ring on the outflow tube - wipe it off, flapper should work again

 

[jjbodean1970]

gave it one more shot and replaced everything, flush valve, fill valve, flapper, all fluidmaster. i wasnt exactly sure it was the flush valve cause it was leaking out but not to the point at the bottom of the flush valve where you would think it would leak down to. regardless - its fixed for only $15 (not including the other parts i had already thrown at it).

 

[AJP]

Congratulations ... coincidentally I just rebuilt a "Vitra" toilet last week ... everything new except the porcelain parts... and the wax ring. Total cost was about $65 with a new stainless flex water line etc. Probably a good thing to do every 10 years or so. I guess the only area for caution is when tightening the tank to the bowl (if you are dealing with a two piece)