Hi and thanks in advance for your time and attention. After much web searching, I think you are the brightest and best I have read. I think I have a toilet with the 'bubble' that was patched and finally failed. 1. toilet flushes OK, but water level slowly drops to bottom of bowl. I assume no clog in drain. Also filled tub on same drain, ran sink full blast, drained tub and flushed at same time. Everything OK. 2. Took off 'plug' on vent pipe when bowl was full. Water level still dropped. I assume no vent block since I eliminated the vacuum. 3. I plugged the 'siphon jet' (Kohler K4552 and 224 stamped under tank lid, 1973 installed) with full bowl. After 2 hrs, no drop in level (used pencil mark to check this). SO NOW I ASSUME THERE IS EITHER A CRACK OR A FAILED 'BUBBLE' in the 'chamber' where the siphon jet emerges. Do you think this is the problem? If so, how can I patch? This is a 'champagne pink elongated bowl toilet', probably not replaceable or very expensive. I was thinking an epoxy, or even some kind of 'tar'. Your advice, please.
Thanks again for your time and attention... Regards, Bob

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Originally Posted by wontuseagain

I think I have a toilet with the 'bubble' that was patched and finally failed.

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Don't understand. Could you tell us what bubble you are referring to

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Originally Posted by wontuseagain

Took off 'plug' on vent pipe when bowl was full.

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Again what vent pipe, what plug

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Originally Posted by wontuseagain

I plugged the 'siphon jet'

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Do you mean the jet opening of the toilet bowl?

Are you non-US, your terminology is different than what I am accustom to..

As with hk, I'm unsure of some of the terminology. To difinitivly diagnose a cracked bowl, kift the toilet and elevate. Fill bowl with water and look for a leak. e.g.put newspaper and paper towels under the bowl.

Hey Bob,
Sometimes in casting the bowl there is a small bubble in the china. Instead of junking the bowl the manufacture will put a porcelain patch over the hole and send it on through. On occasion the patch will fail allowing the water to seep out of the bowl. If that's the case you would have a full bowl after you flushed and the bowl filled but some time later you would notice a drop in the bowl level. The only other thing might be if you dropped something in the bowl and cracked it. If you're worried about where the water's going, in both cases it drains back down into the sewer and not under the bowl on the floor. To check the bowl must be pulled, filled and put up on saw horses. You can then see if there's any leakage from the bowl. Good luck, Tom

All the above are great answers to this question...

I also wanted to pop in and suggest that you take a closet auger tool (see picture below... $20.00 at home depot) and send it through the toilet to see if you can pull anything back that may be causing your toilet bowl to be siphoned via capillary action.

Here, if say a tampon or some mop strings or floss (stuff like this) got caught up at the outlet of the bowl but still had strings, etc. in the trap of the toilet water could climb the strings and then follow that down into the drain and empty the toilet bowl over time. It is not common, but it has occurred 3-4 times in my career.

Anyway, start with closet auger... then if that reveals nothing I would have you lift the toilet like everyone else has suggested and see if there is anything stuck in toilet or drain. Here, you would also elevate the toilet and do the leak tests suggested by others.

Let us know what you find... ok?

MARK