New toilet won't flush

[Elbon]

My old toilet had seen better days and flushing had become weaker so I felt it was time to replace it as it was probably close to two decades old.

I got the new toilet and installed it and it won't flush at all. The water in the tank drains into the bowl and will even fill it to the top but the water just sits there and drains very slowly. Even dumping extra gallons directly into the bowl does not create a flush.

Thinking the toilet might be defective, I removed it and took it outside and put it on some blocks. It flushes perfectly when not connected to anything, so the toilet itself is fine.

So I know my last toilet was flushing, although not as strongly as it did in its glory days, I decided to check to see if the line was clogged. I dumped a few gallons of water down it and it went through without issue, with no build up.

I reinstalled it with a new wax ring, and still no flush.

I have gone into the basement to make sure I didn't just damage the wax seal accidentally while installing and all the water was just slowly leaking into my basement through the floor or something. No water to be found.

What in the world is going on with this thing? I can't figure out for the life of me why this thing flushes perfectly while not installed but won't flush at all while it is.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

The toilet is a Michigan by Tuscany if that helps.

 

[arctic bill]

it is a $88 toilet what do you expect it to work ?

 

[Elbon]

it is a $88 toilet what do you expect it to work ?

Helpful.

 

[Twowaxhack]

You have a drain or vent problem if the toilet will flush outside up on blocks.

I’m going with you have a drain problem.......

 

[Elbon]

I recently hit the drain pipe with draino when I was trying to restore flushing power to the old toilet, and I tried testing the drain between uninstalling and reinstalling the toilet. It *seems* fine but I am certainly no expert.

As far as the vent pipe goes, I thought that was just to release the gasses. Would it really stop the toilet from flushing all together?

 

[Twowaxhack]

If you don’t have a working vent and try to flush into a septic system, it will have issues.......

I suspect you have a drain problem.

 

[Elbon]

Well, I do not have a septic. I live within city limits and it drains into the sewer line. I don't know if that makes a difference.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Well, I do not have a septic. I live within city limits and it drains into the sewer line. I don't know if that makes a difference.

You have a partial or complete clog in your pipe.....

Good luck

 

[Elbon]

Thank you.

 

[Geofd]

Check the holes under the lip of the bowl they maybe painted over or some how plugged

 

[Geofd]

I recently hit the drain pipe with draino when I was trying to restore flushing power to the old toilet, and I tried testing the drain between uninstalling and reinstalling the toilet. It *seems* fine but I am certainly no expert.

As far as the vent pipe goes, I thought that was just to release the gasses. Would it really stop the toilet from flushing all together?

Take the water supply from the toilet point it into the open drain and see if it fills up

 

[Jeff Handy]

Maybe you stuffed a rag into the drain during removal of old toilet, then forgot about it, now it slipped down and is causing a blockage.

Get a toilet auger and check for blockage, or snake the whole line out to the main line.

 

[Danny3xd]

As far as the vent pipe goes, I thought that was just to release the gasses. Would it really stop the toilet from flushing all together?

The venting is needed or all drains will be slow. Like pouring water from a jug turned upside down rather then pouring at an angle and it "chugs" for air to relieve the vacuum. All drains work like a straw filled with liquid. Hold your finger on the upper side and the straw will not empty.

Was the old toilet acting exactly the same? 20 years for a toilet is not very old. I was thinking packing material. Styrofoam could have been floated up and stuck in trap out of site. I agree with Jeff and trying an auger. I keep a coat hanger in my toilet tools bucket just for this. Use it to poke around from the bottom of the toilet. A small inspection mirror might be well worth the cost.

The old toilet is concerning though.

 

[Elbon]

I am going to try snaking the line this weekend. Regarding things having fallen in, I suppose it's possible, but not likely. I shoved two rags down to keep stuff from falling in. At the time I was also replacing the subfloor, and my delivery order from Lowe's took several weeks. I removed the rags because I had to install a toilet flange extender in the meantime but put them back in afterwards. Both rags were still there when I went to install the toilet, so nothing should have fallen in.

Regarding the old toilet -not long before deciding to replace, I was having backup issues that was stemming from roots clogging up my clay pipes and water was backing up in the main line. I cleared them out with an auger and flushed some root killer for good measure. I've checked to make sure that this isn't the problem again and water seems to be flowing through the main line fine, even if I leave the water running, drain the washing machine, etc. But the toilet was still flushing weaker than it was before the clog had occurred, and I removed it because I was going to be doing the subfloor, so it has actually been off for a few weeks.

I appreciate the explanation on the issues the vent pipe can cause. As of right now I'm wondering if it was possibly partially clogged before and has since become fully clogged, as there is a tree next to the house that sits close to the vent pipe that has dropped thousands of those helicopter seeds between the time I removed the old toilet and now.

Anyway, I'm going to try to see what the issue is this weekend and hopefully I can reclaim a bathroom. Thank you all for your help.

 

[JG plumbing]

I'll bet almost anything there was three rags.