new Kohler toilet tank leaks - is fill valve pre-installed?

[rachelms79]

Sorry for the simple question, but when you buy a toilet tank in Home Depot, etc. does the tank have the fill valve and flush valve already in place or does the installer have to put them in?

The reason I'm asking is that last Monday I had a plumber (actually 2 newbie-looking guys came) install a new Kohler Wellworth toilet that I got at HD but I didn't open the boxes before to see if the tank components were pre-installed. The problem is that now the tank leaks to the bowl, about 3-4 gallons a day. I looked inside the tank and the arrangement of components seems odd to me (e.g. the vertical rod on the Fluidmaster-type fill valve is rubbing against the horizontal rod of the flush handle). I was wondering if maybe the plumber put these components in, if he didn't tighten them enough or if the fill valve should be facing the flush valve instead of facing front.

I also noticed that one of the guys connected the tank to the bowl on the carpet in the bedroom outside the bathroom, while the other guy was removing the old toilet. Then together they carried the new toilet into the bathroom. The Kohler install instructions say to install the bowl first and then the tank. Does this make a big difference in the tightness of the tank/bowl connection?

I called Kohler and they said to tighten the nuts on the tank. I'm not that handy, so should I call the plumber back to tighten them?

Thanks much.

[kevin]

Can't answer most of your questions. But, tightening the nuts is just a few seconds job if you have a pliers or socket wrench. But then again, this is not going to stop any leak, unless the leak is on to the floor.

Sounds to me that some of the components are not quite adjusted right, or need some fiddling to get aligned right. From the sound of it, you don't want to deal with this, and you shouldn't have to. Call the plumbers and complain. Toilets should not leak like that.

BTW -- how the heck can you tell that it is 3 or 4 gallons?

[sleepdog]

Could be a deformed flapper or flapper seat at the bottom of the tank. I bought a brand new Kohler one piece low profile toilet from HD and it leaked through the flapper from day one. And both replacement flappers I bought did not fit like the original so I wasted a few more dollars. I decided to ignore the faint dripping sound since the tank wasn't ever refilling itself.

[evodawg]

The flush mech. is usually already installed in the tank. All you have to do is make sure you tighten the tank to the bowl just enough to get a good seal between them and install the toilet onto the waste trap with a wax ring and connect the water supply. They may have turned the inside mech. while tightening the water supply to the tank. And the reason your leaking may be because the seal between the tank and bowl is not lined up or not tight enough

Rich

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Good grief! You paid for someone to do the install and it's not right. Call them back and let them fix it. You can fiddle with tightening bolts etc but what happens when/if you crack the tank? You're out the cost of two toilets and installs. I rarely pay anyone to do work on or around my house but when I do, if it isn't what I expected, then I call them back. Cheers, cc

[Art]

If you decide to tighten the nuts the secret is to push down on the tank to build up slack and then tighten the nut but not too much because you don't want the ceramic to crack. When you let go of the tank it will make the connection extra tight.