Kohler K-3554 - No water from rim holes?

Update 4/9/19- Absolutely stuck! I've tried so much to get more then a nominal flow from the rim jets and increase the water surface area of my ten year old Kohler pressure assisted rear discharge toilet. I cleaned the rim holes, removed the tank and back probed towards the rim, replaced the cartridge, replaced the duck bill, checked the screen, removed the flow restrictor, replaced the tank to bowl seal, and snaked the toilet to no avail.

Kohler says the stack is clogged or the porcelain is cracked. The plumber says the stack in my high rise is fine. The bowl's water surface area stays at the proper level when water is poured into the bowl and water isn't leaking from the toilet. The plumber says its the pressure vessel so I obtained a replacement. When I install the new pressure vessel is there anything else I should try?

Thanks,
Joe


My Kohler K-3554 pressure assisted rear discharge toilet has virtually no water coming out of the rim jets. The siphon jet is still powerful as normal. I've cleaned out all the rim holes, went through the Fluidmaster diagnostics including checking the water flow to the toilet and that the screen was clear. I also replaced the cartridge and the duck bill valve though both were fine.

Is there anything else I should be doing to find the source of the lack of water from the holes in the rim?

Many thanks,
Joe

 

I used a coat hanger on the rim holes closest to the tank. I could only get the hanger wire in about three inches because of its stiffness and this did not result in more water coming from the rim jets. Is there anything else I can try before taking the tank off the base? (The toilet is around 10 years old.)

Thanks,
Joe

 

FWIW, did water ever come out of those rim holes?

DOes the flapper valve in that toilet typically come with an attached float? SOme plumbers have indicated that those can break off and get flushed into the toilet, that will partially block it up and could affect the rim holes or the siphon jet or both.

 

The amount of water coming out of the rim remains a trickle. I'm going to pick-up some flexible wire which I hope will go further into the rim. Thanks for the suggestion regarding the float but this toilet doesn't have one.

 

In a non-pressure-assist, if you didn't want to take the tank off the bowl, I would have suggested pouring a bunch of CLR into the overflow riser and allowing it to distribute around the channel above the rim holes. But with a pressure assist and its totally-different bowl design (and lack of an overflow riser), I think you're going to need to pull the tank to accomplish anything. If you can't clear the rim holes from inside the bowl with a thin awl or other pointy round thing and/or the holes seem clear but no water is coming through, then you have to pull the tank. I would look for an obstruction of the small channel that feeds water to the rim holes; maybe it is clogged with accumulated gunk or calcium. Sorry you went through the trouble of getting a new cartridge, etc. I wouldn't ever have thought that to be the problem.

Using a flexible wire to go into the holes and maybe around the channel above them is a decent idea, though. Worth a try. If not, I would try to "snake" the channels with wire or similar after pulling the tank off.

 

I removed the tank and inserted coat hanger wire many times far into both holes in the neck of the bowl. I also went around the rim again inserting stiff wire. While the flow from the rim jets is better it’s still a far cry from what it once was and nowhere near that of my brother's Kohler K-3554 pressure assisted toilets.

I’m really stuck. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

 

Using acid to dissolve the mineral deposits can get messy and you can hurt yourself and anything that it gets on. But, if your mechanical efforts aren't fixing it, it's either that or a new toilet. If you have hard water, the new one will last longer if you get a water softener.