Toto Toilet Leaking - Need Help

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Galvagirl

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My 10 year old Toto toilet was making crying noises and kept refilling about every 15 minutes. I replaced the fill valve. The crying stopped but the leaking didn’t. I put food coloring in the tank and it leaked into the bowl, but not down the sides. It leaked through the little hole toward the front of the toilet into the bowl. There is no water around the floor. So, it doesn’t seem like it’s a problem with the flapper. How else can the water get out of the tank?
 

Reach4

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Flapper or flapper seat is not sealing.
Probably that.

Galvagirl, turn off the stop valve at the wall that supplies water to the toilet. If the water level continues to drop to the flapper seat, then it is the flapper. If it stops sooner or later, there is a different, less common, cause.
 

WJcandee

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What you are describing is precisely the symptom of needing a new flapper.

Change the flapper and see if it fixes it. Assuming that that's a Drake or other Toto GMax toilet, then use this one: https://www.korky.com/products/flapper-seal-replacements/fits-toto-g-max-3-flapper

Also check the overflow tube (the thing that rises up on the flush valve). Sometimes it cracks vertically, often behind the clip that attaches the refill hose. Turn the water off and see where it settles to. If it settles all the way down to the base of the flapper, it's the flapper. If it settles say halfway down and goes no further than that no matter how long you leave it sitting, then unclip the refill hose and pinch the overflow tube and see if it doesn't reveal a crack/separation.

But I wouldn't go there until I changed the flapper. It's cheap, easy to do, and can't hurt, because you're gonna need to replace it someday anyway. Count the links of chain between the flapper and the flush handle on your old flapper, and duplicate that on the new one to start. Flush it, and see if the flapper acts properly. If it doesn't stay open long enough or closes to soon, play with the links of chain one or two in each direction until it works perfectly, which it will if you are patient and try different lengths. Generally, you want one link of chain resting on top of the flapper when the handle is at rest, i.e. a smidge of slack in the chain, but you then vary the lengths until you get the flapper to work right when you flush.

In the future, if you replaced the fill valve with a Korky 528 of any flavor (or that's what it came from the factory with), all you need to replace to solve the noise problem you were experiencing is the little internal seal, which costs like $4 at Home Depot. You don't have to take out the whole old valve. But if you replaced the valve yourself, great! Good DIY project.

Good luck. Let us know how it works out.
 

Galvagirl

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What you are describing is precisely the symptom of needing a new flapper.

Change the flapper and see if it fixes it. Assuming that that's a Drake or other Toto GMax toilet, then use this one: https://www.korky.com/products/flapper-seal-replacements/fits-toto-g-max-3-flapper

Also check the overflow tube (the thing that rises up on the flush valve). Sometimes it cracks vertically, often behind the clip that attaches the refill hose. Turn the water off and see where it settles to. If it settles all the way down to the base of the flapper, it's the flapper. If it settles say halfway down and goes no further than that no matter how long you leave it sitting, then unclip the refill hose and pinch the overflow tube and see if it doesn't reveal a crack/separation.

But I wouldn't go there until I changed the flapper. It's cheap, easy to do, and can't hurt, because you're gonna need to replace it someday anyway. Count the links of chain between the flapper and the flush handle on your old flapper, and duplicate that on the new one to start. Flush it, and see if the flapper acts properly. If it doesn't stay open long enough or closes to soon, play with the links of chain one or two in each direction until it works perfectly, which it will if you are patient and try different lengths. Generally, you want one link of chain resting on top of the flapper when the handle is at rest, i.e. a smidge of slack in the chain, but you then vary the lengths until you get the flapper to work right when you flush.

In the future, if you replaced the fill valve with a Korky 528 of any flavor (or that's what it came from the factory with), all you need to replace to solve the noise problem you were experiencing is the little internal seal, which costs like $4 at Home Depot. You don't have to take out the whole old valve. But if you replaced the valve yourself, great! Good DIY project.

Good luck. Let us know how it works out.
Thank you! I’ll try the flapper and let you know!
 

Galvagirl

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Probably that.

Galvagirl, turn off the stop valve at the wall that supplies water to the toilet. If the water level continues to drop to the flapper seat, then it is the flapper. If it stops sooner or later, there is a different, less common, cause.
Thank you. Yes, I did that and the tank emptied. Off to get a new flapper and give it a try.
 

Reach4

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Thank you. Yes, I did that and the tank emptied. Off to get a new flapper and give it a try.
The flapper should do it. Wipe any debris off of the place the stopper presses against (flush valve seat). When you install, adjust the chain to have a small amount of slack-- about one chain length is ideal.
 

Galvagirl

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I replaced the flapper and the leak has been reduced greatly, but it is still leaking. Attached is a photo of of the leaking of green food coloring compared to the first picture. It is still there, but much less.

40A16184-EEB9-446A-AA8E-C74DE3652B7E.jpeg

It is adding water several times a day. Not a big deal, but I’d still like it to stop. Any other ideas? Thanks everybody.
 

Reach4

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I replaced the flapper and the leak has been reduced greatly, but it is still leaking. Attached is a photo of of the leaking of green food coloring compared to the first picture. It is still there, but much less.
Did you wipe off the seat that the flapper sits on? Use something like muslin. Feel for any imperfection.

Is the chain a bit slack rather than taut? It should be.

Does the chain pull pretty much straight up, rather than off to the side? It should.
 
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