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Kitchens and Baths, Plumbing, Repairs and Installation, Interior Published 09/24/2007 by Danny Lipford
A toilet that runs constantly or doesn’t flush properly can be quite a nuisance and waste of water. There are several common problems associated with toilets that are fairly easy to diagnose and repair.
When you remove the cover of the tank, you’ll notice that the toilet contains an overflow tube to keep it from flooding, a float to control the water level, an intake valve to let water into the tank, and a flapper valve on the bottom that is connected to the handle by a chain.
Often when a toilet won’t stop running, the culprit is that the water level in the tank is set too high. This allows water to spill over the top of the overflow tube and keeps the intake valve from shutting off.
Depending on how the toilet is made, the water level in the tank can be adjusted by either turning a screw on the top of the intake valve,
or by reaching into the tank and turning an adjustment at the bottom.
When you have finished adjusting it, flush the toilet and check to see that the water level remains a bit below the top of the overflow tube.
Another common problem is a gradual loss of water in the tank, which causes the intake valve to cycle on and off periodically. If this is the case, you probably have a leaky flapper valve. To check, pour a little food coloring in the tank.
If the water in the bowl changes color without flushing it, the flapper valve needs to be replaced.
To replace the flapper, turn off the water to the toilet at the cutoff valve.
Flush the toilet to purge the water from the tank. Reach inside the tank and remove the old flapper valve.
Replace it with a new one and reattach the chain from the handle.
If neither of these two repairs solves the problem, you might have to resort to replacing the entire inner workings of the tank. Kits are available at home improvement stores that contain all the parts necessary, along with step-by-step instructions.
If the problem involves the intake valve, unhook the water line from the bottom of the tank, and loosen the nut that holds the intake value.
Remove the intake valve and replace it with the new one.
If the overflow tube and flapper assembly require replacement, the tank will have to be removed from the toilet by loosening the two bolts that hold it in place. After replacing the components, reattach the tank to the toilet. The chain from the handle to the flapper should have a little slack in it, but not so much that it can become lodged under the flapper when it is flushed. When everything is back in place, fill up the tank and check for leaks.
If the toilet leaks at the floor when flushed, the problem lies with the seal between the bowl and drain flange. To repair, remove the plastic caps on the bolts that hold the bowl to the floor and gradually tighten up the bolts. Don’t over tighten and be careful not to crack the base of the bowl.
If it still leaks, the toilet will have to be removed and the wax ring that seals the bowl to the drain flange replaced. See our article on How to Remove and Replace a Toilet for more details.
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September 29th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
My tank doesn’t have a float to control water level. Instead, there is a sliding piece of equipment (”Hunter”?) on the intake or refill valve which can be pulled up as much as 4 inches and twisted side to side, but without screws or clamps to adjust. The problem is overflowing water w/ each flush into the overflow pipe. How do I correct this and do you any pictures for this type of toilet? Thanks so much, Rebecca
October 2nd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
The problem with my toilet is that it’s very hard to flush. You have to really push down on the lever. I can’t figure out what the problem is. Any solutions or suggestions? Thanks, Ginger
Ben Erickson Says:October 4th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Ginger,
You might try moving the chain to the hole near the end of the rod that attachs to the handle. That way it has more leverage when you push on it.
October 5th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
During flushing, the water in the tank seems to flush straight down the drain with very
little (not enough for a proper flush) going
into the bowl. This is my third commode and
all have operated much the same. WHY?
October 12th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
our camode flushes slow,with no power. are some camodes fast and powerful? you know the more expensive ones?
October 18th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
I got new floors in my bathroom so they had to remove the toilet and put the floors down and then replace the toilet. My toilet works fine but when I flush you can hear the water in the pipes and it is very loud. When I flush the downstairs toilet you can hear the water in the pipes in the upstairs bathroom. Could this be a water pressure problem?
October 19th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
ginger, i had the same problem. i took a plastic handle from a bath brush,scruber and i hung the handle on the flusher and taped it. this gave me some levrage, to pull it to the side to flush. outside the toilet. hope you get it.
October 29th, 2007 at 11:52 am
I RECENTLY STARTED HAVING PROBLEM WITH MY TOILET. IT SOUNDS LIKE IT IS TAKING A DEEP BREATH. I AM NOT SURE HOW TO FIX THIS OR WHAT IS MAKING IT DO THIS. HELP!
Ben Erickson Says:November 7th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Paula,
It might be that it’s not vented properly. This could allow sewer gases to bubble up through the toilet and/or create a suction effect when it is flushed. If it didn’t do it before, check to be sure the vent pipe on the roof isn’t blocked. Look down it with a flashlight and see if you can feel air going through it when the toilet is flushed.
November 8th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I just installed a new Mansfield toilet, elongated and high profile with a ‘magnaflush’ system. Everything went well with the installation, nothing leaks. But the water in the bowl gradually flows out so there’s just a tiny bit in th every bottom. Is it flowing back up the toilet bowl trap (S trap, I believe)? I hope you can help me solve this mystery and correct the problem.
Thanks,
Steve
November 24th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
I can’t figure this out and either can my plumber. My home is about 40 years old. We have 4 bathrooms and we’ve never had any major toilet issues.
Back in August our downstairs toilet overflowed and ruined all the carpet in the living room, bedroom, and vanity area.
We called the plumber the first one augered the system, but found no real problem, replaced the toilet and charged me $900. The problem continued we gave him another chance, but he didn’t fix it. I called another guy my insurance man recommende. He sent a video camera down the system and found a major blockage. He charged $300 and said he didn’t do the kind of repair we needed and called another guy who pulled the toilet, jackhammered to plumimg at the slab and then desided to dig under the foundation to get the roots and things fixed. This cost me $1200. We still have problem at times with overflows. They say all the lines and vents are clean and when the plumber comes back to look at the issue he doesn’t see a problem. When he leaves the toilet will overflow. It doesn’t happen all the time and I’ve turned every sink, tub, and flushed all the other toilets at the same time to recreate the problem. NOTHING!
It’s so frustrating, because when company comes for the holidays it always seems to overflow. HELP!
December 4th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Is there an answer for Steve Bottcher’s (11/8/07)water level problem? My neighbor is experiencing the same symptom.
Thanks.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Its a long story…. After 10 years in this new house.. with few problems with toilet I decided to change the whole flush system. Bought complete replacement system from HD. ( I have a Gerber W15 Toilet.). I am not too much expert but I believe I know how to follow instructions..
.
1) I took out the tank by taking out the two bolts. It is 2 bolt tank,and refill valve,flush lever, cleaned the tank now
2) I put the overflow tube which is attached to flush flapper, .
3) At the bottom (other side of tank)I put the rubber gasket.
4) Attached refill valve, and put tank back with new bolts.
Now when I tried to Flush… Everything flushed from the space between tank and toilet..(I believe from having rubber gasket loose)
So I repeated the process. But this time little too hard on bolts and it cracked the tank. So I Bought a epoxy and it worked. But still the flush is not working. It flushes from the Space between tank and Toilet bowl. I am sure it is from the Rubber Gasket as it is loose. But I have tried couple of times and following the instructions properly…
Please help… For any suggestions will be great helpful. Where I live plumbers are too expensive and I can’t afford them.
December 20th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
To Kent, If you don’t have sewer, maybe your drain field is clogged. A lot of people in our developement had to have their drain field dup up. We didn’t, because we are soon getting sewer. Our basement camode sometimes overflows from doing laundry and if it has rained a lot.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I have an American Standard toilet upstairs. We dont have a flapper type toilet. It is a long plastic pole and when the water in in the tank i leaks out slowly which in turn makes my toilet run. After a while i couldnt get water to fill the tank. Figured that out but like i said the tube sits on a thin red gasket.I replaced it( the thin red gasket) and it works for a few flushes then it will leak again and i have to turn the toilet water intake off so i dont waste water and have a big bill (TO LATE). i really think who designed this type of seal must of not thought it out. Any suggestions. I dont know if i can change the inners to a flap type seal.It’s only a few years old so i shouldnt have to buy a new toilet Thanks
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Me again I to had a plumber come out and he does not know whats going on either, other than the thin red gasket is a joke unfortunatly the toilet didnt run and lose water when he was here ha ha
January 21st, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I seem to have experienced the perfect storm of toilet problems. I just completed installing laminate flooring in my house and two days late,awoke to ½ inch of water everywhere so I’m looking at a complete replacement. The toilet apparently overflowed after a nighttime flush and the only thing I can think of is that 2 things happened at the same time: 1) the float valve stuck open and 2), the toilet got plugged up simultaneously. Otherwise the overflow tube should have handled the continuously running water from the stuck valve, right? In my catastrophic haze, after shutting off the toilet water valve and cleaning most of the water out, I did try flushing the toilet and it didn’t see to flush right so I ran a short toilet hrough the toilet. I turned the water back on and that’s when I found the float valve didn’t shut off. Ever heard of this combination of events and what if anything can I do to stop it from recurring? Thanks
January 21st, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Sorry - meant to say I ran a short toilet `snake’ through the toilet. Tks
Ben Erickson Says:February 25th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Don,
One possibility is that the hole in the tank for the handle might be lower than the top of the overflow tube, causing water to run out around the loose fitting handle. I noticed this on my toilet the other day. While I fixed it by lowering the water level in the tank, I probably should cut the overflow tube down lower than the handle hole just in case.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
When we moved into this house several years ago, we were under pressure to leave the former house. I had to make a quick decision although I was immediately aware of many problems, especially the two bathrooms since neither had a window. Soon, we realized that the hall toilet bowl semi-flushed several times a day and night. I thought the cause was a worn flapper. I had learned many years ago how to replace flappers. Unfortunately, I found that I could not replace the flapper because the sink and counter is once piece, and the counter is over the toilet allowing only a two-inch space. There is barely enough space to slide the tank top off. My daughter and I cannot unscrew the toilet bowl, and lift it out to replace the flapper, and since we did not have the money, and still do not have the money to call a plumber, we had to accept the problem. Two years ago, I became aware that water was leaking at the
bottom of the tank and was dripping at the back of the toilet seat. We placed the cardboard core of an empty towel roll behind the toilet seat, and a plastic container on the floor. I cut out an area of the top. I cut out a section of the plastic snap on top and when the cardboard core was wet, the water would drop into the container. This “repair” lasted for a short time, however, probably because the heat/air-condition does not work I noticed mold forming on the water shut-off valve, and the metal disk that fits against the wall. I cleaned that, but during the past winter months,
rust formed on the water supply line, the shut-off valve, and the wall disk. We are terrified that if we try to replace the two parts, the shut-off valve and the water supply line, that when we unscrew it, the parts may come apart, and if that does not occur, then when we replace the two parts, we may not be able to screw them tight enough which would cause more of a leak. No. We still cannot remove the toilet bowls. Both bathroom toilets have rust in the same place, and the two screws on each of the toilet bowls are covered with rust. We are also terrified that the rust will eat through the supply line, which will allow water to burst through the entire house ruining everything. We can afford to purchase the supply line and the shut-off valve, but we cannot afford a plumber. What can we do to fix the current problem? Will our wiping the rust off cause a major problem? Is there a glue or tape that we can put on the supply line over the rust to prevent it from breaking? Please help. YVN
April 7th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I should have added that we turned off the shut-off valve in the hall bathroom toilet last week. We are only using the other toilet. Both of the toilet’s metal disks that fit against the wall are extremely rusty. The hall bathroom toilet water supply line is very rusty. The other toilet’s water supply line is covered with an odd greenish-blue color. I think it may be “pre” rust. We urgently need advice ASAP. YVN We urgently need advice ASAP. YVN
April 17th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
My toilet makes a sound as though it is going to flush but it seems as though it partially flushes. One day this happened time and time again for about 4 hours. Also, I notice movement in the toilet water as though someone were blowing water on its surface. What could this be?
May 13th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
My toilet is leaking from the under the tank .it is the white round ring.We don’t have a flex house it is a long metal thing. How can I fix this? It is driving me nuts leaking in the pail. the metal thing connects to the water valve shut off. Please help me Thanks Debby
May 25th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Yvonne:
It is great that you want to fix your toilet. And there is plenty of information available. But it is impossible if there is a counter two inches over the toilet! If you own the house, you must remove this counter, so that you can work on the toilet. If you do not own the house, you must get the landlord to fix the counter and the toilet.
Removing the rust, carefully, is good. Then you must stop the rust from growing again. You can do this with paint, or most any kind of goop, like vaseline or oil. Just keep paying attention to those surfaces, and you will find a way to fend off the rust! You really only need to worry about rust on thread surfaces. The rest of the rust is most likely “surface” rust, just cosmetic. You could just lightly brush it and apply a coating of “rust reformer” to harden the rust. If the rust really eats all the way through something vital you have a big problem, but this is not likely to happen. What rusty metal disks are you talking about? They are probably not too important. You might be able to just reform the rust or paint them. Or you could reinforce them with silicone rubber or epoxy or other adhesives or caulks. But be careful not to cover up rust on important things unless you do a good job of curing it — it is much more dangerous to have hidden rust eating away than to have ugly rust where you can see what is happening.
As a temporary measure, you can just turn on the wall valve to let in water to fill the tank to flush the toilet, and then turn off the valve right away to not waste water. This will work, but you can’t go on doing this because you will wear out the shut-off valve on the wall and then have a much bigger problem.
It is very important to understand that you do not need a working water supply and tank to have a usable toilet. You only need the toilet part! You can flush with a bucket of water, that you can fill from anywhere, like the bathtub. This is a fine way to make do for as long as necessary — it is only guests that will think it is very peculiar!
May 25th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Linda:
You say you see movement in the water “as though someone were blowing water on its surface”. I think this is water trickling into the toilet bowl from the tank. This is caused either by the tank water level being too high, so that there is overflow, or by a leaking flapper. Put dye in the tank water 10 minutes after a flush, and see if the color shows up in the toilet over the next hour. If you have a leak like this, find it and fix it — stop wasting water!
May 25th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
debby:
You must turn off the water at the wall, flush, then sponge out the rest of the water inside the tank. Then unscrew the water connection that is leaking, where it goes in the tank. After you take it apart, you can see and understand how it works. Then clean all the threads and put it all back together. Use vaseline if you need to make the threads slide smoothly. Make everything tight, but mostly just finger tight, not too tight or you might break something. This will probably fix the leak. But if any parts are worn out or broke or it still leaks, you will probably have to replace gaskets etc.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
i need to replace flush handle on my toilet as the handle is splitting but when i pull up on chain to disconnect it, it does not want to come out any suggestions on disconnecting it without breaking it as i do not want to have to replace flapper to. thank you
June 11th, 2008 at 10:18 am
bboivs:
The chain from the flapper hooks on at the top. You must unhook it there.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I put in a new toilet about 4 yrs ago I followed the lines of the old toilet and put in a 12″ apparently some time or other the tank cracked just recently we found out it should have had a 10″ put in,, the question is can I if I can find one put a 10″ tank on this bowl???
June 24th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
One of my commodes was running. I went to a big box to get a repair kit. The guy that worked there told me which one I needed. I said, “this does not look to be the right size”. He said, “no, it’s universal & will fit. My commode is an Eljer, probably original to this 1964 house. In attempting to make it fit I broke the original piece that fits under the tank bolt. The bolt is rusty.I have to remove it to fit in the new one. I have tried Blaster which has loosened the top bolt, but no the bottom piece under the tank. I continually respray with Blaster, but no luck yet. Any ideas? I replaced the other 2 commodes with the Eljer repair kits with no problems. If I use a Drimmel tool where do I use it? It’s difficult to reach under the tank as its next to the wall?
June 24th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Caroline:
You will have to post pictures or drawings so we can understand exactly what your situation is. You will probably not be able to remove a rusty bolt unless you can see the situation. Use flashlights and mirrors. The best solution is maybe to cut with a hack-saw blade. Takes time and effort. If you cut or grind off with any power tool, it will be very risky. Make sure you replace with special bolts and nuts that will NEVER rust - plastic or brass or something.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I used a 10″ blade that cuts steel to cut the brass bolt off. I did not use a handle, just the blade slightly bent so it would fit under the bolt. The bottom wing nut had majorly corroded & could not be removed from the bolt. I replaced it with a new bolt & wing nut. The new kit comes with 2 washers, 2 seals, 1 nut, & 1 wing nut. I removed the original bolt & 2 waters; so I only used what I removed, the bolt & 2 washers (1 on the inside bottom of the tank & another on the outside bottom of the tank. It leaks.
What did I do wrong? Also, the commode repair kit has another seal that goes on top of the plastic part that the brass bolt goes through. Maybe I should remove that seal, or not?
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Whenever I flush my upstairs toilet, my downstairs toilet overflows- I take the water out of the downstairs toilet ( manually with buckets) and it keeps filling up. We have had alot of rain lately ( sump pump is fine- basement where toilet is located is fine)but backyard has some standing water as most of the houses in the developement do. The water in the toilet seems to be a dark greenish color. Please can someone tell me what is going on?!