Kohler Toilets Behave Badly
I know, I know. I start out a lot of our posts by saying; “It is so much harder to put together a house than I ever would have thought.” Well, here we go again. This is hard stuff.
The first bathroom that became functional in the house was the guest bathroom upstairs. We measured out for and framed a steel tub, measured out and installed the backer board, the right height for the shower head and measured (taking into account the space the tile would take up on the wall) out the distance to where the drain for the toilet should be.
It is a small bathroom and I really like how the Kohler one piece toilets look, so I bought the Gabrielle series for both the master and the guest bath. Here’s the problem. They look cool, but they don’t work that well. Much. Really.
This Gabrielle series Kohler has a 1.6 gallon tank but boasts the flushing power of a 3.5 gallon tank. Now, I don’t know how strong a flush a 3.5 gallon toilet has but these Kohler toilets take multiple flushes. The advertisement we saw for them (on their website) spoke so highly of Kohlers flushing power that they built an interactive game where the player can click on items in a virtual bathroom and flush them down the toilet!
To top all this off, the Kohler toilet in our master bath stopped filling up with water a few days ago. It just stopped. I thought the water may have been turned off behind the toilet, but nope, we’ve got water, just not in the efficient 1.6 gallon tank. I wiggled the fill valve, but can’t figure out how to take it apart. It is all plastic and it looks like one giant piece. I have spent the last hour trying to research Kohler replacement parts, fill valves and trouble shooting and really haven’t made any progress.
Wow, does this mean that we have building our house for so long that appliances we installed in the beginning are already starting to break?
November 19th, 2008 at 5:32 am
We finally made it to the Island and are in the process of changing our bathrooms also, since the EVERYTHING leaks. For the toilets, Ben found American Standard to have the best “reputation” so far. We are considering a trip to Home Depot to see if they carry them. Good luck!~
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November 19th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Holy shit, that sucks!
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November 19th, 2008 at 10:48 am
We bought the cheapest toilet from home depo and it works great. It’s also only 1.6 gallons a flush.
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November 19th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
thanks jeff, that was very helpful
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November 20th, 2008 at 5:42 am
Yes – the one we got is a 1.6 gallon Glacier Bay and it hasn’t had any problems (been in for a year). When we bought the house the owner said you won’t have problems if you don’t put paper down. Maybe that is the key (if it doesn’t gross you out). The house is 30 years old with no problems so that may be why. He said it had something to do with the “receiver” whatever that is. If it’s worked for 30 years we are going with it! katrina
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November 20th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Ah…it all makes sense. Now I know why you were busy digging ditches: old school toilets.
=P
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November 22nd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I think I have two of the same model and one has to hold the handle down for maybe 4-5 secs to get the big flush for #2. Sorry, maybe this is TMI.
No suggestions on why the tank isn’t filling.
PS – I had to replace a part for one of them and then the two-part flush option was a gonner. Home Depot anyone?
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November 23rd, 2008 at 10:02 pm
“Holy shit, that sucks!”
So to speak. Right?
- MPM
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March 2nd, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I had a problem this week with the kohler San Raphael High powered flusher which has the 8100 system in it. This toilet worked perfectly for 13 years and recently is not working well. I called Kohler and they are shipping me a new San Raphael for only $200. It is listed in Home Depot for $700 so I thought this was more than fair for their not making or supporting the part anymore. If you have a problem call their consumer 800 number and they will offer you that deal.
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September 15th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
I’ve had the issue that your describing & this is usually evident of a could be a couple of different things. For example, the toilet not refilling would be a result of some possible hard water deposits that clogged up the seal which is preventing the toilet from properly refilling. I had to lift up on the black or gray plastic arm that comes out of the top of the red, white, blue, green, or black cap. Next, push down on top of the (red, blue, black, green, etc) colored cap, then rotate both the arm & cap 1/4 turn counter-clockwise (of course, making sure that the water is turned off before you do this). After that, the cap will come off easily, to gain you access to the seal underneath the cap. You pull the cap out (which will be gray/black in color), rinse it off & then put it back into the cap. BEFORE you put the cap back on, turn the main water valve to the toilet on/off a few times (usually 4-5 times) to clean out the line. After that, you put the cap back on by pushing down on top of the cap & then rotating the arm/cap 1/4 turn clock-wise & the problem should be resolved. As for the situation that you described as frequent clogging, this sounds like an issue with the vent piping in your home, or possibly an obstruction in the bowl. As you may already be aware of, no manufacturer’s toilet is 100% clog free. I’d recommend, that if you have further issues/concerns, to call 1-800-456-4537 for further assistance as the representatives that work at the Kohler Customer Care Center are great.
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September 15th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
J
Thanks for the detailed explanation on a potential fix. Since we have hard water at the house, I am definitely going to give this a shot and report back here with the results!
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