Leaky bath drain-getting annoyed

[Samurai-Viking]

I've got a bathtub drain leak problem. I've replaced the old old rubber gasket between the outlet pipe & the drain. I used pipe dope on the threads & lots of putty under the drain lip & then tightened. I get a drip every 2 seconds or so on the bathroom ceiling below the tub. It doesn't leak when I just run the water but if there'e any weight in the tub (even a few inches of water) the leak starts. I used a rubber stopper to completely cover the drain & filled the tub & it didn't leak. So that appears to leave me with the drain asembly or a pipe joint under the tub. I don't have access to the tub unless I cut a hole in the ceiling & then it's 1 floor up (it's a tri-level house). Cutting is my last resort so I have one question: Is it possible to over-torque the drain & cause the rubber gasket to distort? This used to happen on accasion when I worked on cars. Is there anything in the overflow assembly that would cause wearing in the pipes? We had a new brass drain, 2" ABS pipe & a no hub coupling replaced 4 years ago by a plumber. Could this have failed so quickly?

Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Cass]

Disassemble it, clean off everything, put a rope of plumbers putty under the drain lip, install / push and twist the drain about 90% of the way ( don't thread it in)and remove it, remove the portion that has pushed out to where the rubber gasget would be, then thread it in and tighten.

Many times the plumbers putty distorts the rubber gasget and causes a leak.

I don't think this will work. I think you have some other problem. Can you cut the wall behind the valve and get to the trap area?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Samurai-Viking]

Thank you for your help!

Thank you Cass, I think that pretty much solved the problem. There was a good amount of putty between the gasket & the drain pipe. All the other postings I've seen on other sites said you could never have too much putty. Thanks to you, I know better. I'm going to cut an access hatch through my garage for future problems. I have one last question though. There was a lot of side-to-side play with the drain pipe. Is this normal? It feels like an untightened threaded fitting.
Thanks again!

 

[Cass]

Well i'm glad it worked out for you. The shoe likes to twist when you tighten it which trys to move everything it is attatched to. Sounds like your waste and overflow may be loose. Don't be surprised if it leaks. Kinda hard to tell from here though.

 

[Plumber1]

leak

To add to what Cass said, there also 3 or 4 jam nut connections on that tub drain assembly and every time you loosen or tighten that drain fitting, you are moving at those jam nuts which have washers under them. If you do need to get at a leak there, it would be a good idea to leave a nice.