How to seal up a leaky toilet tank?

Feb 03, 2006 6 Replies

Hey folks... my toilet tank is leaking out of one of the boltholes. I believe that the reason for this is that when it was installed, they didn't use those rubbery washers that you're supposed to use. I added them, and it's still leaking (very slow leak).



Ideally, I'd like to get away with not replacing the tank, so I'm thinking that if I dry it off and use some kind of silicon or something around the hole, it should seal it up. Any suggestions as to what product I should use, or alternative ideas? Thanks folk.


"Fighting crime by building more jails is like fighting cancer by building more cemeteries." - Paul Kelly


If you cleaned everything up good, that's usually enough. If they didn't use rubber washers the first time, maybe the tank is cracked.

more cemeteries." - Paul Kelly

Same thing happenned to me years ago. Dried up the tank and siliconed the bolts from inside. Leak's gone...

Rich ==================================== Garage Door Parts, LLC

toilet parts are so inexpensive but when your home in a one-holer the pressure for fast repair is up full blast. the pdf at this link gives the perfect proper sequence of the bolts and their rubber washers, so save it!

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parts and knowledge on repairing our twenty toilets is at:
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cemeteries." - Paul Kelly

YES. You will have to disassemble it again, be sure everything is 100% clean and dry. Apply 100% pure silicone to both sides of the rubber washers, under the bolt heads, etc. Reinstall adn you should be fine. I have done this. It works

Be sure bolts are tight, but dont over tighten. Silicone is slippery and the rubbers will expand and slide right out from under the bolt heads.

more cemeteries." - Paul Kelly

The key is to have the correct size rubber washers, put them where they go and use the correct size steel washers in the right place. Tighten firmly but not so much as to crack the tank.

more cemeteries." - Paul Kelly

Any silicone sealant that says it's for bathroom, tub and tile should work. Or you can try "Amazing Goop" (that's it's actual name) for plumbing.

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