Toto Drake Advice Needed

[Chicago Bungalow Betsy]

Hoping you smart and helpful guys can point me in the right direction. Toilet in question is a Toto Drake C743E, E-Max 1.28 GPF. Installed 4/17 as part of first floor renovation, so less than 2 years. Have the same model in the upstairs bath for 5 years with no problems. Downstairs toilet isn't flushing properly - overfills, then drains to a very low water level (almost nothing left in bowl), isn't completely clearing waste. Have used a toilet plunger multiple times. No kids in the house to throw stuff in the toilet that doesn't belong.

The fact that the water does drain makes me think it's not a clogged line, but?? Checked chain on flapper, water fill level, other parts in the tank, etc. With the same model upstairs, I can do direct comparison. One weird thing I've noticed is a greasy residue in the tank - like white lithium grease? - along water line and especially on the fill valve. Nothing like that in upstairs unit. Can't think of any way grease could wind up in the tank other than from fill valve. Any ideas and advice greatly appreciated

 

[Reach4]

The slow flush followed by lack of bowl refill would be because the path did not clear and break the siphon until after the fill valve had already dropped a lot of its refill water. So the bowl siphoning was slow to complete, because things did not move out soon enough.

As a demonstration, you could hold the fill valve float up during a flush, until the water had receded as much as it will. Then release the float. The tank and bowl should then refill.

The fact that the water does drain makes me think it's not a clogged line, but??

Consider a closet auger. See https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-use-a-closet-auger-on-a-plugged-toilet.18133/ including #3.

If you pour 2 gallons of water into the bowl from a foot or two, does the flush happen? Maybe a downstream partial clog.

If the flush does not work that way, try pouring water from a 5 gallon bucket from as high as you dare as fast as you dare. That might clear the obstruction.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jadnashua]

It really does sound like a partial clog in the drainage line...IOW, it may not be anything inside of the toilet. But, it still could be something like a pen, pencil, large bobby pin, comb, etc. Those can sometimes be hard to clear out. Does using paper make it worse? The paper getting caught on something can slow things down, while an all water flush might work okay.

DOes the same thing happen with just a liquids flush versus one with solid waste?

 

[WJcandee]

Take a video for us on your cellphone, upload it to Youtube, and link to it here to we can look at it. Do the bowl and then the tank.

Sounds like a clogged siphon jet but it seems too new for that to be an issue from buildup. If not that, and the tank and bowl have both started the flush from the proper level, then it's likely a clogged line or something jammed in the toilet.

In a friend's bar, with that exact symptom, the culprit turned out to be a tumbler glass shoved down in there. We couldn't get it out, and didn't want to try to grind it up. Replaced the $99 toilet that was in there with another $99 toilet. Problem solved.

 

[Slomoola]

Where's the video?