I have an unknown brand shower diverter. It's a knob that sits between the hot and cold knob. All three have a knurled end and the stem appears to be made of brass. The stem on the diverter has been "loose" for some type and squeaks when you turn it. Recently, more water now comes from the spigot below than what comes out the shower above.

I removed the metal screw cover, unscrewed the screw and removed the plastic knob which also had a plastic guide that the stem simply turned within. The stem stuck out a brass nut. I removed the nut. There was a washer on the end that looked like rubber but seemed to have some sort of fiber embedded in it. I now have the stem sticking out but can't see any way to pull it out. Looking inside the cavity, I see the stem disappear within a solid piece of brass. There doesn't appear to be any threads and I can't see any way to remove the circular piece of brass/metal that's holding the stem in.

As mentioned above, I can't see the whole unit and there doesn't seem to be a name on what I can see. The house is 21 years old. I doubt that simply replacing the washer is going to make my problem go away and feel that I have to get the stem out somehow to replace o-rings or the like.

I think you have taken off a nut that is called a packing gland nut, it is a nut that you tighten to make the water not come out around the stem. I think what you need to do is look for a larger nut that unscews that holds the stem in place. You will probably need a socket wrench to take this nut off because they are sometimes further back into the wall that you can not get a regular wrench onto. Before you atempt to take this out screw the first nut back into the place it came out of, you do this so that you will not egg shape the hole it goes into, if you did you would never get it to start back into place... Good Luck

After looking at your pictures I am sure that the nut that you have out is the packing nut and I can see the place that you can take out the other nut and it looks like you may not need the socket wrench. The bigger nut will be hard to loosen at first but then should become easy after the first full turn... if it remains hard to loosen then turn the stem to relieve some of the pressure that is being caused by binding. It should unscrew almost with your fingers. Again Good luck

The part that the packing nut screws into looks like I can put a wrench on it. Is this where I loosen? Is this a righty-tighty, lefty-loosey or is it backwards?

I will put the packing nut back in before going forward - just wanted to make sure I turn the right thing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by macdaman

The part that the packing nut screws into looks like I can put a wrench on it. Is this where I loosen?

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Not necessarily - it may very well be part of the valve body, molded that way for a simple reason: it gives you what to grab onto with a second wrench to hold the valve steady while using the first wrench on the packing nut.

Unless you can determine that it is indeed not part of the valve body, I would not recommend forcing it too much (although perhaps you can experiment with a small amount of force), since twisting it too forcefully may crack the valve off the pipe(s) it's connected to, leaving you in deep doo-doo.

Cheers,
Moishe
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This did end up removing the stem and I was able to see it was a Price Phisher. I purchased a stem repair kit but have not been able to locate my square lug removal tool. I tried it without replacing the brass seat but with all the other washers, etc and it still runs 50/50 spout/showerhead. I guess that means that seat needs to be replaced.

Thanks for all your help.

To replace the seat in the body of the faucet, measure the square hole in the seat and then just find any piece of metal that is that size and long enough to reach back into the faucet. I am not sure what the size is but you might try the end of a socket wrench extension. I am sure that any good hardware store has those universal wrenches.

P. S. on the center stem that you are replacing there should a flat plastic washer also on that stem. When you install the stem make sure that the plastic washer is centered so that it seats right in the faucet.

I have a similar diverter that macdaman shows. In order to remove the nut in photo 1 I had to go out and buy a Shower Valve Socket Wrench ($4.95). The diverter stem is way too long for even the long sockets found in most sets to fit over. The nut was also recessed in the wall so there was no way to et a stand wrench on it. Once I had the socket I still had to use a lot of muscle to loosen nut.:D

Sorry... that's "get a standard wrench on it"

I had the same problem a few months ago what I did cut the stem to the size that the socket fitted and it worked great, and took the stem to plumbing supply store and got a match one and replaced it, I would suggest to do the same thing otherwise wait for some experts to tell you differently, good luck.

John