Toilet lever taking forever to unscrew

[Walter645]

Greetings,

I'm trying to remove my toilet handle/lever and I've gotten it loose, but it keeps turning and turning without coming off. Do I need to keep turning or is there something else going on? Don't know if this matters, but contrary to what I've read, this one loosened by turning it CCW.

Thanks,
Walter

 

[Reach4]

By "it", do you mean a nut? If not try turning and pulling the nut.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Walter645]

By "it", do you mean a nut? If not try turning and pulling the nut.

Yes, I did mean the nut. Sorry about being vague.

 

[Reach4]

Try posting a reasonably close photo of the nut area. (800 pixels or less and 200 KB max)

 

[Walter645]

Try posting a reasonably close photo of the nut area. (800 pixels or less and 200 KB max)

Not sure if this the right pixel size.

 

[Reach4]

That's good. I would try unscrewing the nut while prying away from the tank wall with a blade such as a knife blade.

Is that a plastic nut?

 

[Walter645]

That's good. I would try unscrewing the nut while prying away from the tank wall with a blade such as a knife blade.

Is that a plastic nut?

Yes, it's plastic. It's loose and turns freely. I can turn it by hand at this point
.

 

[Terry]

Some are CCW to install. Clockwise to remove.
It looks like your pliers are just spinning on it.

 

[Walter645]

Some are CCW to install. Clockwise to remove.
It looks like your pliers are just spinning on it.

They were spinning on it at first, but I got it loose. It turns freely now. I can turn it by hand. It just doesn't seem to go anywhere.

 

[Flapper]

i think the inner part is spinning with it.

 

[WJcandee]

See if you can't grab just the inner part (the part in your photo that isn't destroyed) with one set of pliers, and twist the outer part (the chewed up part) CLOCKWISE as you are looking at it from the back of the toilet towards the front. I think that will do it.

 

[Reach4]

And if the unscrewing still fails, depending on the plastic used, a hot soldering iron would probably melt its way through without damaging the metal or tank.

You could alternatively try a hot knife. If you heat the tip of knife in a torch flame, it could melt its way through. It is not good for the knife, so you would use a knife that you did not care about.