Toilet still plugged

[scottman]

I removed the toilet, snaked the toilet and down the drain with a 20 ft drain snake. Its long enough to go well past where the tub drain connects. I snaked at the roof vent down until I hit the bottom. I could always hear the water flowing listening at the roof vent, and of course that flowery smell . I removed several autovents to see if more air in the line would help. Nothing so far.

A few days ago, I could dump a bucket of water in the toilet and force a flush. Now not even that works. I must plunge even if only water is in the tank.

When I flush it, water goes up, then slowly back down. Like its not totally plugged. I hear water "dripping" in the back of the toilet in the bend. The other toilets have more of a gurgle-rush-siphon.

I'm really stumped. I guess I'm ready to call a plumber.

[jmw5555]

there are a few questions here are you on a septic system, do the othe sinks etc in the house drain it could be a number of things

[Mark]

Have you snaked the toilet itself? There's an s-trap in the bottom of the toilet that if an obstruction gets in there, it'll make your toilet act just like your describing. If it won't plunge loose, it sounds like a stuck plastic toy or something.

Mark

[scottman]

Yes we are on a private septic system. We had to put in a larger one due to the # bedrooms. ALL the other toilets, sinks, tubs, drain just fine. I'm pretty certain its not the septic.

The toilet drain connects to the tub drain in that bathroom. Behind the tub is the roof vent. The tub drains very well. That bathroom sink joins to the drain, then the washing machine. Then it goes under the house into 4 inch pipe, joined by the bath at the other end, and kitchen, then into the septic.

The only other problem I had was a gurgling toilet when we ran the washing machine. I found an autovent (air inlet valve?) for the washing machine was corroded so I replaced it.

Hi Mark, I just saw your post. I snaked from the top, and snaked from underneath. I could pull the metal snake all the way thru. Wiggle it. I didn't hear anything funny. Going down from the bowl last night, it seems to get stuck at the top of the S because there's some small crevis inside there or something, and it doesn't bend down to get past it. So I cannot get all the way thru from the top. But I got thru from the bottom when I lifted it the other night. I might try it again next weekend.

[Greg]

You may need a snake for the toilet to get around the trap in the toilet. Our daughter has having the same problem, I ended up removing the toilet and running a 25' power snake through it. Found a wad of hair & crud from the Rainbow vacuume cleaner. Greg

[scottman]

Can you explain how a power snake works, compared to a regular metal snake? Did you snake the toilet or the drain?

[jmw5555]

a power snake has a rotating head on it that will USUALLY find its way around traps and such cant be rented from home depot or a place like that most of the time but be very carefull not to scratch the porcelin

[Greg]

I pulled the toilet right up from the floor and snaked through the floor flange. you will need a new wax ring if you do it this way. Greg

[Mark]

That reminds me that we really need a new newsletter. In the next newsletter, I was going to describe how to use a power snake.

If your snake has a small head on it, it might be going right around or thru the blockage without disengaging it. Although that's more common for grease clogs from the kitchen sink.

Next time you got your toilet off, dump fast a bunch of water directly into the flange. Does it back up then? If not, then its your toilet.

Mark

[scottman]

My father-in-law who is a master of just about everything mechanical, came up to our house. We pulled the toilet. Within a few minutes he found it! It was a pencil wedged vertically in the trap. Apparently my 5-yr old did not want to do homework! Anyway back on and its fine. The only thing I did wrong was tighten the bolt too much now the porcelin cup over the bolt isn't big enough. I can't loosen the bolt to make it fit, so I guess it will just be that way until next time. I'm not as mechanical as my fil but a little better than bubba.[/img]

[Yanita]

Hi,

You can use a hack saw to shorten the closet bolt, and then the cap will fit.

~Yanita~