Leak around base of Toilet.

[NaViDa]

Hi,

I recently purchased my first RV, which i'm happily living in it fulltime for about 3 weeks now. Its a 1998 Holiday Rambler Endeavor. Yesterday i notice some of the blue sanitizer leaking around the base of the toilet and last night what seem to be urine. As a female that loves DIY, will i be able to tackle this alone without taking it into a RV dealership??

TIA!

[NaViDa]

racerguy wrote:
Gjac is right. You can usually remove and replace the valve with the toilet in place. If your body is still pretty flexible and you have a mirror to see what you're working on it can be done,

Yes, i'm very agile & strong, so i'll check into this too. I have this and my roof to work on in the next few weeks.

thank you,

[racerguy]

Gjac is right. You can usually remove and replace the valve with the toilet in place. If your body is still pretty flexible and you have a mirror to see what you're working on it can be done,

[Gjac]

Of the 3 times that my toilet leaked over the years it was the water valve and not the flange. Twice I was able to change the o ring inside the 3rd time I had to change the valve. If you look under the foot pedal while flushing and see a leak or you can stuff dry toilet paper under the pedal and the paper gets wet it is the valve. I was able to change mine without removing the toilet. Let us know what you find.

[OhhWell]

NaViDa wrote:

AWMIII wrote:
I had a 97 endeavor. The floor was rotten right around the base of the toilet and the toilet flange had cracked because it was not being supported. I ended up installing a sheet of 3/4 inch exterior plywood OVER the tile in the area around the toilet. Then I installed a new toilet flange and a piece of PVC pipe to extend the pipe to the level of the new floor. I screwed down the plywood to the sub base below the ceramic tile. When I was done, I installed some vinyl flooring over the plywood. I just did not want to get involved in ripping up the original flooring. It was totally solid afterwards. The toilet used to feel a little soft when I sat down on it. It also used to smell. After the fix, the smell went away. I did this in a state park campground while traveling.

thank you.

Please don't do that unless you really just can't get at the bad wood or you don't plan on keeping the coach for long. But then again, you didn't mention soft wood under the toilet so hopefully you caught it before that point.

[NaViDa]

AWMIII wrote:
I had a 97 endeavor. The floor was rotten right around the base of the toilet and the toilet flange had cracked because it was not being supported. I ended up installing a sheet of 3/4 inch exterior plywood OVER the tile in the area around the toilet. Then I installed a new toilet flange and a piece of PVC pipe to extend the pipe to the level of the new floor. I screwed down the plywood to the sub base below the ceramic tile. When I was done, I installed some vinyl flooring over the plywood. I just did not want to get involved in ripping up the original flooring. It was totally solid afterwards. The toilet used to feel a little soft when I sat down on it. It also used to smell. After the fix, the smell went away. I did this in a state park campground while traveling.

thank you.

[AWMIII]

I had a 97 endeavor. The floor was rotten right around the base of the toilet and the toilet flange had cracked because it was not being supported. I ended up installing a sheet of 3/4 inch exterior plywood OVER the tile in the area around the toilet. Then I installed a new toilet flange and a piece of PVC pipe to extend the pipe to the level of the new floor. I screwed down the plywood to the sub base below the ceramic tile. When I was done, I installed some vinyl flooring over the plywood. I just did not want to get involved in ripping up the original flooring. It was totally solid afterwards. The toilet used to feel a little soft when I sat down on it. It also used to smell. After the fix, the smell went away. I did this in a state park campground while traveling.

[OhhWell]

NaViDa wrote:

OhhWell wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
Is your black tank full seeing you are seeing blue treatmant

Yes, very good question. You really shouldn't be seeing blue treatment or even really urine if it is just the toilet or seal that is leaking. Is it possible you are getting a clog and not really getting a full dump?

Does your drain from the toilet go straight down to the tank or does it bend?

I've not look at the actual layout under the rig yet. Whatever seems to be the issue, it appears it something i can do myself by whats been said here today.

thanks.

If it was a straight pipe to the tank, you would know as you would see the tank when you flush. Anyhow, good luck with the dirty job.

[NaViDa]

OhhWell wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
Is your black tank full seeing you are seeing blue treatmant

Yes, very good question. You really shouldn't be seeing blue treatment or even really urine if it is just the toilet or seal that is leaking. Is it possible you are getting a clog and not really getting a full dump?

Does your drain from the toilet go straight down to the tank or does it bend?

I've not look at the actual layout under the rig yet. Whatever seems to be the issue, it appears it something i can do myself by whats been said here today.

thanks.

[OhhWell]

newman fulltimer wrote:
Is your black tank full seeing you are seeing blue treatmant

Yes, very good question. You really shouldn't be seeing blue treatment or even really urine if it is just the toilet or seal that is leaking. Is it possible you are getting a clog and not really getting a full dump?

Does your drain from the toilet go straight down to the tank or does it bend?

[jeomelia]

When working on the toilet you may want to add a shutoff valve in the supply line if there is not one. It could be a trip saver when the valve on the toilet fails.

[NaViDa]

newman fulltimer wrote:
Is your black tank full seeing you are seeing blue treatmant

Thanks everyone for your speedy recommendations!!

I'd read thats its good idea to empty the black tank bi-weekly, so this could be the problem since my levels seem to stay at 2/3 full after i've emptied it or not??

I do have the type toilet mentioned here with the foot lever, something i really enjoy using!

I'll check everything stated here starting with emptying the black tank today.

THANKS AGAIN!

[newman_fulltime]

Is your black tank full seeing you are seeing blue treatmant

[racerguy]

If you have a Thetford toilet you might want to consider buying the water water valve kit, which includes the base gasket. My water valve started leaking a couple months back and the coach is only 6 years old.

The whole kit runs about 20 - 40 bucks, depending on the model of your toilet. You need to remove the toilet to change the water valve so now would be a good time.

The whole project took me a little over a half hour and minimal tools.

[mfox20]

Fairly easy fix. Just changed my base to flange and the bowl to base gaskets out last month on my 2000 HR Endeavor. I was having odor issues and found both seals were leaking. New flange seal is about 1/2 inch thick and the old one was about as flat as a quarter. Mine had the carpet on the base and you could tell it had also leaked blue water at some time.

You just need to disconnect the water supply line, remove the trim from around the base of the toilet, if you have the foot flush you will need remove the trim from it as well, then remove the 4 nuts holding the toilet down. You should now be ready to lift up and remove the toilet.

The gasket will either be on the toilet or stuck to the flange. My gasket came with 4 new bolts and nuts, also easy to replace. Clean everything up, align the new gasket and re-install.

The gasket shown in the other post goes between the base and the toilet bowl. Mine was leaking there as well so I replaced both. For that one you will need to remove the large hose clamp that holds the base and bowl together. All of this is also easy to do if you remove the toilet from the motorhome, remove the lid and turn it upside down.

You will also need some rubber gloves.......

While mine was out, I ripped out the carpet, built a new base and went back with ceramic tile. Hated that carpet around the toilet.

Good luck and send me message if you have any questions.

Michael