I have 8 yr old Mansfield toilets. One was getting particularly hard to flush, and inevitably the "flush lever" broke. I determined that the flush seal had caused this problem, but everything else seemed to function fine until the handle got so hard to push.

Anyhow, I replaced the flush seal yesterday (identical non factory part replacement from Lowe's) and installed a non factory replacement lever (for Mansfield, from lowe's. Has a slightly different angle and is long. Now, every time I flush it, a) the seal moves (like it won't seat properly yet), and b) now the flush "cylinder" won't fall back on the seal. Basically you have to lift the handle to close the flush system, but then the gasket has moved.

This is quite vexing. Any ideas?

Okay, update.

I'm a moron and didn't have the flush seal "set" in the grooves, so that's done. Now I notice that the lever doesn't move freely, which may be preventing the flush valve from falling back down the stack and closing. At this point I can manually close the valve by lifting the lever back "up," but now the water is running.

The tank will fill, then leak down after a minute or two, then it will top off the water level. This is seemingly compounding, and makes me want to pound a beer instead of messing with it.

Any ideas now? Thx in advance.

The angle of the handle sounds like it is the issue. Here, these cylinder type flush valve mechanisms require that the handle fit a very specific angle and if it doesn't you end up with problems like you mention.

If you are handy, you could try heating the new handle and bending it to match the angle of the old handle (remove from tank before heating), or you can order an exact Mansfield replacement handle (if you can find it ONLINE).

Good luck!

Mark

There are 2 types of Mansfield seals, O ring type and bottom seal. What type do you have?