Hi, I just did some maintenance on my American Standard toilet. I replaced the Flapper assembly. While in the tank, so to speak, I did notice that the fill valve assembly shoots a good bit of water out of the top. I was under the impression that all water should be shunted from the fill valve to the fill tube via the rubber hose. My assembly, however, does spurt water out of its louvers at the top. Does that suggest a blockage somewhere? Here's the valve assembly I'm talking about:

http://www.plumbingstore.com/images/as-part-ballcock-valve-47189-0070a.jpg

When flushing, I see water coming out of the top of the yellow assembly. Is that normal?

I did adjust the ball/float because the water level was a bit over the water line on the back of the tank, and now less water comes out of the yellow top piece, but it still comes out of it. I don't know exactly how these things work, but I'm going to guess that if water can't directly go to the rubber fill hose and then to the fill tube, it will be shunted to the top of the fill valve where it can at least escape. Is that right?

The toilet is about 6 years old now. Should that assembly be replaced?

On a secondary note, I notice that the slightest movement of the tank will result in leaks at the bottom of the tank where the tank bolts connect to the bottom toilet assembly. I'm going to guess that's a simple gasket replacement unless someone says otherwise.

No! It's not normal for water to come out of any where except the fill tube extending to the bottom of the tank and the small white bowl fill connecting to the white overflow tube. When water shoots out the top it can shoot 7under the lip of the lid and down the back of the tank and bowl leading to what looks like a bowl leak at the base. Your ballcock should have three screws on tip. Tighten them and if that doesn't stop the spurt replace the ball cock, Good luck, Tom

Well, you are correct in that when the water shoots out of the top, it can make its way under the lid and down the back. That's why I was asking if it was normal.

It's the initial surge of water when flushing that shoots up. Then it just kind of bubbles out of the top.

However, I looked at the ballcock. There are two screws. One screw closest to the end of the stem is the water fill adjustment screw. There is another screw about an inch forward, but it looks like it only limits the amount of travel the stem can go. Actually, I'm not sure what it does because it really doesn't connect to anything. But there's no third screw.

If I tightened the water fill adjustment screw, it just stops the fill altogether. So yeah, it stops the water from coming out of the yellow top, but no water fills the tank at all when that's tightened.

At this point, I'm thinking I need to replace the fill assembly.

Can one of those Fluidmaster universal fill replacements take the place of the one I pictured? Recommend a particular one?



Update: I ended up replacing the ballcock assembly with a Fluidmaster 400A Universal Flush valve. I also replaced the Tank-to-Bowl bolts (and their bolt gaskets), so no more leaking from the bottom. Now, all is well with the toilet.

I wasn't aware that my flapper was adjustable in that its float could allow for more or less water per flush. I have it adjusted now so more water goes for each flush, and we've had fewer (only one very slight) toilet backups since then. Prior to adjusting the flapper, the water-per-flush was never seemingly enough to prevent stool backups.

I also replaced the Tank-to-Bowl bolts (and their bolt gaskets), I hope that when you replaced the tank bolts that you didn't crank down tight and left 1/4" to 3/8" of play in the tank. If you didn't and someone leans back against the tank it can put a strain on the floor of the tank and crack around the bolt holes. Good luck, Tom