Running Toilet (every 5 min!)
 

Purchased the home new in 2021 (south of 44). One of our toilets runs for about 30 seconds every 5 minutes or so. I took a look in the water tank and I do not see what I expected. Where is the flapper valve? It's got some one piece assembly in there that I dont recognize or know what to do with.

Has anyone replaced one of these? Whad do I need to replace or adjust?

--sp--

Talk to the guys at Lowes or Home Depot and they will explain. Take a picture on your phone.

You probably have a black cylinder. This is a Kohler design. The cylinder lifts to flush and it’s likely that the gasket on the bottom of the cylinder needs to be replaced. Plenty of YouTube videos - very easy. Get a Kohler replacement gasket at a hardware store and do it yourself. (the knockoff gaskets don’t last long at all)

Been there. Done that.
But, IF you have doubts or are unsure, bite the bullet and call a pro. Spend the bucks but save your sanity .... and your knuckles.

I hear if your just looking, go to Lowes.
If want/need help, go to Home Depot.

Another good place for help is Ace Hardware

Look at the gasket under the cylinder it may have some dirt in it or simply needs readjusted. I know a rental we were in had one (I had not seen one before either) and I just rotated the cylinder as it was not aligned properly with the inside handle and chain so not sitting down on the inner seat correctly. I did not buy any parts and I would doubt after a 4 years the seal would be shot.

When you buy the gasket, get the YELLOW one and not the red one. The replacement is a 5 minute job, turn off water supply, flush the toilet, give a ~90 degree twist on the center of the black cylinder, it will become loose. Lift it out remove the old gasket, clean the area with a paper towel, install the new yellow gasket, clean the black ring in the bottom og the toilet tank with a paper towel, and reinstall the black cylinder. I am sure there are YouTube videos on this.

Replacing the gasket at the bottom of the canister (cylinder) will most likely solve your problem. However, if it doesn't, you may have a leaking fill valve. Before doing anything, check the water level in the tank. If the level is very close to the top of the canister, this could indicate a leaking fill valve. A leaking fill valve will cause water to flow over the top of the canister. The fill valve is located on the side of the tank near the flush handle. You can either replace the entire fill valve mechanism, or you can just replace a small round rubber seal located near the top of the fill valve. There are YouTube videos on replacing the fill valve. One way to determine if the problem is caused by the gasket is to lift up the canister and clean the gasket and the seat below the gasket to see if this provides a temporary fix to the problem.

The first thing you should try is to lift up the canister and wipe off the gasket and the toilet bowl seal. I use Lysol wipes. One piece of grit on the gasket can cause the problem you are describing. Sometimes, when I do this, the toilet continues to work fine for months. But, at some point, you will need to replace the gasket. I buy genuine Kohler gaskets from Amazon. Here is what you need:

Amazon.com

Things are always changing. Sometimes for the better but often not. It may be because of my age but things don’t usually last as long as they did in the past. In my experience, the exception is a new car.

Watch this
 

When you turn off the water supply to the toilet, you will most likely need to pull out the round handle on the push-pull plastic valve at the wall. Be careful because these are cheap valves that can start leaking at any time. I hired a plumber to replace my toilet supply valves with metal quarter-turn valves. To me, it was well worth the investment.

If no help, go to Ace hardware, they are absolutely wonderful in regard to finding exactly what you will need and very patient when explaining how to do it ! I've found a few people at Lowe's and HD who are helpful, but most just point to the isle where you can find what you need, or just give you the isle number, nothing like the people at Ace ! They will spend as much time as necessary to make sure you will be successful in the repair... no, lol, I don't work there, don't know anyone who does, and don't own their stock, lol, just think it's a superior customer oriented store with good reasonable prices and super knowledgeable people.

We had the same problem with our new purchased in 2021 as well. I contacted Kohler and they sent me three replacement flush valves at no charge. Had to provide the serial numbers inside the tank lid.

I assume that they sent you the fill valve mechanism. If you have a leaking fill valve, you can usually repair it by replacing this seal. It will save you the hassle of replacing the entire fill valve mechanism. Very easy to install the seal.

Amazon.com

Do you have Prince Albert in a can??

Well it was actually the stem inside the "Flush Canister" where the fill line comes from the "Fill Valve". I think the canister rotates too much from the pull of the chain. Dont remember the original color. But it is now yellow.

This may be too much information, but Kohler actually made a design error when they designed the canister stem. It used to be black, and the fill tube was inserted into a hole in the top of the stem. This tube often fell out and the toilet malfunctioned or leaked. Now, they use a yellow part on the stem and the fill tube is stretched around a plastic piece at the top of the stem. This is more secure and doesn't fall out. Kohler probably doesn't want to admit this design error.

A friend who worked at Home Depot before also moving down close to us here was telling me that about 25% of these new toilets had issues. Wish I'd known that before buying one. Luckily, after replacing the ring after less than a year, the new one has worked fine for several years now.

Replace the rubber gasket to get rid of those ghost flushes.

Haven't heard that one since I worked in a cigar store in Coney Island!
:1rotfl:

Chemicals like Clorox caused a bubble or bulge in our yellow seal. We popped it with a pin and were good for another year.

Sounds like hard water buildup. You could try soaking the flush valve with CLR.

Please explain what you mean by the "flush valve"? The only valve in a toilet tank is the fill valve.

Thanks
 

Thanks for all the info. I ordered the recommended seal from link provided and watched the video too. All is well now, and it's easier than I thought it would be.

If we all could solve all of our problems like this life would be so much easier.

--Thanks--

You have most likely spent more than the cost of an expert for water since the leak started and if you do not have experience wit this you could be looking at a small flood.

IMO Kohler toilets are over priced show pieces with expensive internal parts that don’t work no better than cheap ones. American standard iMO the best toilet out there easy to install easy cheap simple parts to replace. But, all I want my toilet to is flush and be problem free and I don’t need the so called greatest fancy more expensive models. Even entry level Kohlers are all most twice as much as American standard. IMO you don’t get twice the product.

I contacted Kohler
 

I contacted Kohler. Same exact issue. I removed gasket and there was a slight bubble in the gasket. I took photos and sent them to Kohler. They sent me replacement gaskets. No problems since new gasket in (1.5 years). Initial one lasted 6 months. Super easy to troubleshoot and replace.I have 3 toilets. They gave me several.

Ace is better than HD or Lowes

Go to Ace, they know what you need.

Great video on utube on changing seal on Kohler cylinder actions. I’d never seen on until I moved here. Very easy fix, buy yellow seal, it is a little more expensive.