[jason_jay_2002]

Ok, I consider myself a fairly competent do-it-yourselfer. I've replaced wax rings, flappers, and fill valves before. So, I know my way around a toilet. This problem has got me utterly baffled. I have a vintage 70s blue American Standard toilet. A few months ago, the tank started leaking into the bowl. I could see a faint stream of water in the bowl and could see the water level in the back of the tank slowly drop. The float would drop enough and refill the tank... slowly drain again. Repeat. My first thought was the flapper. I replaced it and it continued to leak. I tried 2 more. No luck. I verified that there were no exterior leaks- I did not feel any condensation or water around the tank bolts underneath, and there is no water on the floor or by the toilet seat bolts. So it must be one or both of the tank-to-bowl gaskets. I didn't have time to fix it, so I tried just cramming a bunch of plumbers putty at the bottom of the tank around the gasket. It didn't help. So, I went and bought a complete repair kit. I replaced both rubber washers and tank bolts, installed a whole new overflow pipe assembly (the guy at the store said it could possibly be cracked), complete with 2 new tank gaskets. The toilet still leaks. I took the tank off again and even added some silicone around the toilet base before I put the tank with gasket back on. It still leaks. What am I missing? There's no obvious cracks in the tank and I don't believe there are any cracks in the toilet bowl. How can this still leak? I'm baffled and frustrated. This isn't rocket science- toilets are fairly straight forward. There's only so many ways a toilet can drain. What would cause the toilet to still leak like this? A few people online said that if the tube from the fill valve is too long and goes too far down the overflow pipe, that this could cause a siphoning effect. I don't understand how that even makes sense. If the tube is down the overflow pipe, how can the it siphon water out of the tank when the water level is below the rim of the overflow pipe..? Can anyone offer any HELPFUL advise?

[creahands]

Have u checked the seat for the flapper? Is it smooth?

Put a little pressure on flapper and see if this stops leak.

Chuck

[speedball1]

I've read your complaint three times and I'm still confused. Before we go any farther we have to get together on terms. What you call a "overflow pipe assembly" is called a Flush valve and what you call a "tank gasket" is called a spud washer,
But here's where it gets confusing. You stated,

the tank started leaking into the bowl. That there were no exterior leaks

Then why in the world are you fooling around replacing tank bolts, jamming putty around the tank bolts when the leak is internal? It doesn't make sense. You had the right idea at first and then contradicted yourself with all those extra parts and labor attempting to locate a external leak. Why did you do all that? Here's my take on it. If, as you say, it's leaking from the tank into the bowl it would only involve two tank parts. The flush valve and the flapper.
If there's no external water outside the tank then you've installed the flush valve correctly.
That just leaves the flapper. F the flapper came with a ring did you cut the ring off? (see image) Did you leave 1/4" of play in the flapper linkage and not keep it too tight? I think you went to a lot of work for nothing. I still can't figure out why you pulled the tank if it wasn't leaking outside on the bowl. Care to explain? Regards, Tom

[jason_jay_2002]

Hey Tim, thanks for the reply and for setting me straight on terminology. I think I wrote that at like 3am! I wasn't jamming putty around the tank bolts because I knew those weren't leaking. I initially thought the flush valve was leaking, but didn't have time to take the tank apart to change either the spud gasket or the gasket at the bottom of the flush valve. So I tried jamming putty under the flush valve to see if it would slow/stop the leak (it would also help confirm if that was the gasket that was leaking). At any rate, I figured out the problem myself last night after much Google searching. As it turns out, my problem had nothing to do with bad gaskets. I suffered from 'siphoning' because I had just stuck the flush valve tube down the overflow pipe. Never in a million years would I have thought this could have caused the problem, especially since I had replaced the flush valve assembly a few years ago. It's just funny that it took a few years before the siphoning problem started. At any rate, I used the s-clip and mounted the tube and the problem magically went away! :-) Thanks for your help though.

[speedball1]

And we thank you for the update. It's always great to hear about a problem solved. Good luck, Tom