Toilet flushes slowly, but no visible clogs...

poorboye

In an upstairs bathroom, the toilet does not flush down as it should. The water level in the tank is where it should be and all 22 of the drain holes in the rim of the bowl are fully open. When you flush the toilet, the water comes down out of the tank into the bowl as it should, but the water level simply rises. It does not flow out over the top of the bowl, but simply "whirlpools" for about thirty seconds and then slowly goes down by itself.

I have checked for leaks, and used a toilet-auger on it with no sign of any internal clogs. I replaced the flapper yesterday with one of these kinds where you can select nine different settings, and I put it on the setting that allows maximum water to come down out of the tank, but this did not help.

The only thing I've seen that seems out of the ordinary is that the water level in the bowl when the toilet is inactive seems high. I wonder if this upsets some "vacuum" creation that is necessary. BTW, the toilet in the downstairs bathroom works perfectly.

I've looked all over the web and picked everyone's brains at Ace Hardware and no one can come up with an idea of what's going on with this toilet.

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I was forced to "retire" from corporate America two months ago and I don't have a ton of money to pay a plumber. Thank you!

para1

You Have A Clog. Try Pouring A 5 Gal. Bucket Of Water In The Bowl, If It Goes Domn O.k Your Problem Is Between The Tank&bowl.

poorboye

Thank you for the speedy reply. I had tried putting about 1 gallon of very hot water down the toilet four times in a row, and it did go right down. I never tried 5 gallons of water, though. I'll get set to do that now. I appreciate your advice!

jogr

Don't put very hot water in a toilet bowl. You can melt the wax seal.

poorboye

I have two three-gallon buckets which I filled with tap water. I poured the first one in and all the water was gone from the toilet bowl by the time I could even put the empty bucket down and pick up the second one. I poured in all the water from the second bucket and it also went right straight down.

Is it true that if the water level is too high in the bowl that the flush water coming down out of the tank encounters too much resistance to flush everything right on down?

Those buckets of water I poured in came down with a lot of force and maybe that is what is needed most. It's a real puzzle.