Does anyone have suggestions for fixing a toilet that won’t flush entirely? Here’s the symptom and what I’ve tried:
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[li]when I flush, water comes into the bowl, and swirls around a bit, but not enough to fully expel everything down the chute. The toilet fills up but does not overflow (or even come close). Occasionally, it will flush all the way, but only when there is a fair amount of paper (or other things…) in there.[/li][/ul]
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[li]If I dump a couple of gallons of water into the bowl, it goes down almost immediately (without a flush).[/li][li]If I squirt toilet-cleaning solution around the inside of the bowl (and under the rim), it generally goes down on the next flush, but not subsequent flushes.[/li][li]I’ve adjusted the water level in the tank as high as it will go. If I flush and hold down the handle for the entire cycle, everything goes down about 20% of the time. Otherwise, the bowl gets pretty full, but doesn’t overflow.[/li][li]I’ve tried lime remover, and that works similarly to the toilet-cleaning solution attempt (i.e., works once and then not subsequently)[/li][/ul]
I’m thinking that there just isn’t enough flow to get things started. I’m guessing that the toilet-cleaning solution makes things a bit more slippery, increasing the flow enough to get the job done. Maybe I can clean out the holes under the rim (I’m not sure how, though)?
It seems that your toilet is partially obstructed. Get a plunger and try that. A hand plunger may work, but if it doesn’t, there are plungers that use air by first priming. If that doesn’t work. Try a snake.
Thanks – forgot to mention that I’ve done the plunger thing multiple times, with no difference. As I said, a couple of gallons of water poured swiftly into the bowl goes down without a hitch.
Sounds like the flap valve in the bottom of the tank might have deteriorated and isn’t letting enough water out.
Quick test. Take the lid off the tank and flush. If the flap drops back into place before the tank is all but empty, there’s your problem. A few bucks at Wal-Mart or Lowe’s and you’re back in business.
Okay, flap does go down slightly before the tank is empty. However, if I manually hold the lever down (thus keeping the flap up), more water does enter the bowl, but the flush still doesn’t complete properly.
I’m thinking johnpost might be right, that the rim hole are obstructed. I’ll see if I can figure out how to clean them.
I had one and it turned out that calcium deposits had prevented the tank water from getting into the bowl quickly. The bowl relied on a design where a smaller 1/2 inch hole shot water towards the back of the waste exit at the bottom of the toilet.
The plumber simply took a small pocket knife and reamed out the calcium from inside the small hole. That let the water shoot into the bowl with a higher velocity and that caused the bowl to flush properly.
I had a similar problem with my toilet. If you have an older home, the sewer line may have many years of well…muck lining the sides. Over time, it obstructs the flow. Using standard drano doesn’t really help you.
You can buy some stuff that will coat the sewer line with bacteria that apprently feast on the muck and loosen it so that it will run down. It takes about three days but it worked.
You mentioned that it will flush once correctly after squirting cleaner under the rim. Does your toilet get clogged up often? I’m thinking you might have toilet paper lodged in those holes. Spraying the cleaner up there pushes them back up into the toilet and the next flush jams them back in the holes. When it’s not working, you might want to get a small mirror and take a look around that rim for any obstructions.
I have something similar to this happen every few months. I live in an apartment, though and they have a plumber that they send out to fix it, so I don’t know exactly what causes it. I think what he’s said is the line that connects the building’s plumbing to the sewer gets clogged, and he has to go and flush it out.
It could be the vent that goes to the roof is clogged. It happened to ours. Your symptoms sound the same. The vent screen had broken and leaves and debris had stopped most of the air intake. My husband first used a chain to dislodge stuff stuck to the sides of the pipe, then flushed it with the garden hose. Toitie workee now.
Based on the responses, I think I’m confused. Is the water not entering the bowl properly (what I thought the problem was) or is it not leaving the bowl properly (based on responses such as checking the clean out and/or vent)?
