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Toilet leak
A quick question. I've noticed a leak between the toilet and the floor. Only one side, the one closest to the driver. It doesn't happen all the time. I did a bunch of testing the other day, but i could never trigger it. Now that I think about it more, the one thing I didn't test was having something other then water go down. I'm wondering if "stuff" going down and hitting that first 90, could cause enough of a bit of a back up to cause the leak. I got new seals for it recently, was thinking about installing them this weekend. I did a forum search and did find some very nice articles. I didn't see anything mentioned sporadic leaks though.

When we first got our rig and drove it across country, we did end up clogging the toilet at one point (two 90 bends, come on LD) and it sat full of water for a number of hours until we could get some stuff to bail it out, so it hasn't always leaked.

I'm thinking of trying hold the ball valve open and trying to spray some water around the edge to see if I can trigger the leak.

Is it ok to just pull the toilet off the floor to replace that seal, or should I go ahead and split it all apart?

Thanks in advance

Sean

2001 MB
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #1 –
I guess you mean a sewage leak? Is the toilet rock-solid to the floor? If not, I would remove it to see if there is any mounting looseness causing the seal to fail. Also check underneath the rig to see if the pipes to the tank are secure under the toilet. The rubber seal should not fail if everything is secure.

Steve
2004 FL
2013 Honda Fit
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #2 –
We had an issue in ours with the back flow preventer on the back of the toilet. If you have a spray nozzle, follow that hose back to the toilet and it'll hook into it. Ours only leaked when the water would turn off after flushing.
1994 MB
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #3 –
Sean-

I'm usually one to track down cause(s) before throwing parts at a problem. In this case, and since water leaks can create hidden damage, I suggest you rebuild the toilet. There should be part kits for the valves, ball seal and floor seal- basically everything but the bowl, seat and lid.

I rebuilt the toilet on our former MB. As far as I know, it had not been rebuilt since new- over fifteen years. The task also taught me how the toilet worked. That helped me track down an intermittent leak on the toilet in our current coach.

Mark H
Former owner, 31-foot gas Class A
Former owner, 1997-8 mid-bath
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #4 –
The floor flange can loosen and allow leakage, if you can access the bolts, snug them up.
With the water pump on, stick your hand in back of the toilet, around the water line and valve, and wiggle things around, to see if any thing is loose or seeps, when moved.  Make sure the big clamp, under the plastic cover, that connects the top of the toilet to the bottom, is tight.

Figure out where the leakage is coming from before disassembling and/or rebuilding the toilet, it's usually something simple.

Larry
Larry
2003 23.5' Front Lounge, since new.  Previously 1983 22' Front Lounge.
Tow vehicles  2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2001 Jeep Cherokee
Photo Collection: Lazy Daze
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #5 –
Quote from: JonS  - 
We had an issue in ours with the back flow preventer on the back of the toilet. If you have a spray nozzle, follow that hose back to the toilet and it'll hook into it. Ours only leaked when the water would turn off after flushing.

We had this as well.  In certain situations, small amounts of water would run down the spray nozzle hose and drip onto the floor at the bottom loop.  It took me quite a while to figure out where the water was coming from.

I tracked it down by taping a paper towel to the hose and watching when it became moist. 

The fix was replacing the hard to reach vacuum breaker. 

This is a great resource:
The Lazy Daze Companion: toilet

Rich
2003 MB
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #6 –
Quote from: Larry W  - 
The floor flange can loosen and allow leakage, if you can access the bolts, snug them up.
With the water pump on, stick your hand in back of the toilet, around the water line and valve, and wiggle things around, to see if any thing is loose or seeps, when moved.  Make sure the big clamp, under the plastic cover, that connects the top of the toilet to the bottom, is tight.

Figure out where the leakage is coming from before disassembling and/or rebuilding the toilet, it's usually something simple.

Larry


I was out this past weekend trying to see if I could find where it's coming from and did happen to notice the bolts on the left side where a bit loose. I snugged everything down so I'm hopping that did it. As the leaks don't happen every time the toilet is used, I guess only time will tell if that fixed it.
2001 MB
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #7 –
Well snugging up the nuts made a bit of a difference. No longer seeping on the left hand side, now a bit from the front and the back of the toilet. In looking at some posts on the companion there was mention of detailed instructions that came w/ the seals. The seals I got from Camping World don't have such things. The manual I have doesn't really give go tear down and re-build instructions either. Does anyone happen to have such a thing. I have a 511+

torque specs would be great.
2001 MB
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #8 –
I just rebuilt the 511+ toilet in my 31IB.  Bought all the parts from Ardemco in CA.   I had to pull toilet up to change out lino to match rest of coach.  No one wanted to do the job here in Tucson, so I did it myself.   I replaced the plastic ball, springs, water valve,  floor gasket and bolts, vacuum breaker and 2 seals.  Many only problem is that the ball wont go all the way home, you have to pull up slightly to seal.  I dont know if I tighten the band strap too much or  not.  Will continue to play with it. 
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #9 –
Henness, you can find good info on replacing the upper seals in the Lazy Daze Companion at The Lazy Daze Companion: toilet.  The instructions are step-by-step, so you should be fine.  A few quick thoughts -

If the pedestal base is loose at its attachment to the floor, and you had a backup, that could lead to seepage from that seal.  Otherwise, the inside of that seal is air, not water or sewage.  Thus, there should be no significant leakage there unless things are backed up.

Leakage from the vacuum breaker, water valve or connecting hoses could "travel" showing up on the left or right side of the bowl.  Follow Larry's suggestion about using paper towels to find the leak point.  Once you find it, then you know what to work on.  It would be a shame to disassemble the toilet, replace the lower and upper seals, as well as the plastic ball and vacuum breaker, re-assemble, then find out that the leak is coming from where the hose attaches to the water valve.  There are two types of leaks.  Clean water will come from the water valve, the vacuum breaker or the hose connections to them.  Sewage will come from either the seals between the bowl and the pedestal base or, possibly, the seal between the pedestal base and the floor.  Examination of the paper towels should solve the issue of type of leak.

The recommended torque for the band clamp is around 65 inch-pounds.

Ken F in NM (for one more night)
'08 MB
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #10 –
I did the paper towel thing already. When it was first happening, it was just the left side. Only at the very base. No wetness anywhere else. After I tightened the nuts, it is now happening at the front and rear. Slightly less wetness then when it was happening on the left. It doesn't happen all the time.

From The Lazy Daze Companion: Toilet Bowl Seal Replacement is where I read about the directions that I assume give torque specs and such. That's what I'd really like. I don't want to tighten them too much and break something. I need the torque for the floor nuts. I don't think it's leaking at the band. Toilet holds water fine and I never see any wetness on the outside of the pedestal.

From that URL:

"What a difference the vinegar bath made! When they were rinsed it was much easier to see how the ball valve, seals, and spring cartridge were to be removed (and replaced). Here is where the Sealand directions, that come with the new parts are very instructive, so I'll leave you to read that part."
2001 MB
Re: Toilet leak
Reply #11 –
Quote from: Kenneth Fears  - 
...If the pedestal base is loose at its attachment to the floor, and you had a backup, that could lead to seepage from that seal.  Otherwise, the inside of that seal is air, not water or sewage.  Thus, there should be no significant leakage there unless things are backed up.
...

When we first got the rig and didn't quite know about the MB multiple 90's we did end up w/ a clogged toilet one night. It was Christmas eve or Christmas day if I recall. Nothing was open, so we had a backed up toilet for quite some time. There was absolutely no issues at that time.

It only started to happened the first trip we took after we the rig went thru a freeze spell here in NC. I had used compressed air and the factory blow out hose to drain all the lines.

I really don't understand how the leakage is happening. It's not all the time. Only seems to be coming from under the pedestal. Filling the toilet and flushing it doesn't make it leak. Before the last trip I put some food coloring in the bowl, filled it up and then sat on the lid for about 15 mins reading to see if I could pin point the leak. Nothing. I think tonight I'm going to try that again, this time lean around quite a bit to see if it flexes at all.

If I can't find something, then I think I'll pull the toilet off the floor and see what I find. I imagine it's best practice to separate the bowl from the base?
2001 MB