Help Replacing Washer and O-ring on Leaky Bathroom Sink Handle

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churchill

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All, I have a bathroom sink handle that is leaking from base of the handle whenever I turn on the water. Please see image attachments.

I think the sink is original and had a heck of a time removing just the handle. I'm stumped on the next problem though. Now that I have the handle off, I can't seem to remove the escutcheon and hence cannot remove the stem to get to O-ring/washers. The escutcheon will not budge. It almost seems fused to the stem itself (not sure if you can tell from the pictures). There doesn't seem to be any seam between the escutcheon and the stem assembly. When I twist the escutcheon by hand the whole assembly seems to rotate, escutcheon + stem. Btw, is the nut that you see on the picture the packing nut to remove the stem or is it part of the stem itself. The space between the shell of the escutcheon and the said nut is only a few millimeters, not really big enough to get any kind of wrench in there.

Any help is appreciated!
 

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  • HandleAndEscutcheon.jpg
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  • Escutcheon.jpg
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hj

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You probably need a 5/8" deep socket and hold the underneath part of the faucet with a wrench when you try to unscrew it. There WAS a tag on one of the supply pipes under the countertop with the model number. If you have that call 1-800-4KOHLER for the replacement parts. There is NO "washer" to replace.
 

churchill

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You probably need a 5/8" deep socket and hold the underneath part of the faucet with a wrench when you try to unscrew it. There WAS a tag on one of the supply pipes under the countertop with the model number. If you have that call 1-800-4KOHLER for the replacement parts. There is NO "washer" to replace.

Thanks, hj. When you say "unscrew" it, are you talking about unscrewing the nut that is shown in the photo? I thought that was part of the stem itself, but I guess not?
 

churchill

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I am talking about the "nut" that is around the stem. That will remove the stem from the faucet.

Hmm, I'm confused now. I've been told on another forum that that won't work because below is what the stem looks like. That nut is not really a nut but part of the stem itself and the escutcheon is threaded onto and "hugging" the stem and therefore needs to be removed first.
 

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churchill

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That's it!! The fact that the handles are pre-assembled on the valves means something for what I'm trying to do I think, but I'm not sure what...
 

Smooky

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The cold side looks like reverse thread to me. Maybe you turned it the wrong way?

You do not repair the stem you replace the whole cartridge
 
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hj

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The escutcheon is threaded on to the faucet body and the opening should be large enough for the stem to come through it. With lever handles, one stem, usually the cold, is a left hand thread, but the thread into the faucet body is ALWAYS a right hand thread. The handles are NOT "preassembled on to the stems".
 
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Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

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