Okay, this is annoying me. The other day, the toilet started doing that periodic “running” thing. I turned the water off and determined that water was escaping through the flapper. Looked at the flapper and it seemed worn, so I went and bought another one, generic, but it said that it fit Kohler toilets. Installed it.
It was good for a bit, then started up again. So I shut the water off, lifted the flapper and cleaned the drain pipe lip with wet/dry sandpaper, cleaned out a bunch of dirt that had accumulated in the bottom of the tank from back when they had a problem with the water, flushed it thoroughly.
Maybe the flapper was only 1 of the leaks? What else in the tank could potentially leak (without flooding the floor, which I assumed you would have mentioned). Maybe the bottom of the pipe on which the flapper sits?
Also, you could replace the entire flapper, float, etc. insides of the toilet. There are newer, more modern versions that don’t use the ball float – and they aren’t that expensive. (Also, they get rid of changing the flapper every year.)
I had to do this repair over the weekend. My flapper wasn’t sealing, so i replaced both the seat + flapper w/ a universal unit.
I think i used the Fluidmaster Flush Seat Repair Kit, but i don’t have the box at work w/ me. Googling that brings up similar products that will, at least, identify what I’m referring to. Simple fix and seems to be working fine (for the last 72 hours).
I can see the water moving into the bowl, so am fairly confident that it’s the flapper. The fill hose is above the water level, and I don’t see any cracks in the fill tube. If I turn off the valve, eventually the water level in the tank drops all the way down. There is no water on the floor to indicate a leak. I’m thinking I may have bought the wrong flapper, as it’s for a one-piece toilet and this is a two-piece unit.
The water pressure on the second floor of my house was so low that the toilet filled so slowly that there was never enough water in the tank above the flapper to make it seal.
Replacing the flapper didn’t fix it. Had to fix the water pressure. If you toilet fills in less than 5-10 minutes, this is probably not your problem.
Even the tiniest bump on the valve base sealing surface will prevent even a new flapper from sealing properly. I know you said you sanded it, but the next step is replace it.
Here’s another vote for a complete guts transplant as the first response to almost any toilet issue; the incremental cost for a sure-thing-one-shot-one-kill is worth it compared to 3 trips to the big box store for an ever increasing list of (non-returnable) parts.
This. I’ve fixed problems I was sure was from the flapper by replacing the valve more times than I care to remember.
Toilet repairs are about the cheapest household repair you’ll ever do.
Yeah, I’ve replaced the guts before. I went back this morning and bought a different flapper after reading reviews. Apparently Korky makes the best after market products for this. So far, I’m not hearing any running water, but time will tell.
I had a similar problem and after replacing the flush valve and flapper I eventually needed to apply silicone sealant between the rubber washer and the ceramic tank. I guess the tank surface was uneven and the washer wouldn’t seal properly.
