Toilet won't flush

[Kev Williams]

We own a mobile home, and we're currently renting it to some friends. Before them, one of our kids rented it, and during his stay his brother and his family lived with him for a couple of months. The place saw more damage in those 2 months than at any other time in the past 9 years!

One victim was/is the toilet in the main bathroom. It started not-flushing. It won't overflow, it will take the 1.5 gallons from the tank and then will slowly drain down to normal level even with the incoming water running. Our son ran a snake thru the toilet just fine, so he removed it from the floor, and found no apparent drain blockage. He re-installed the toilet, and it acted like that for a couple more months.

Then one day it started flushing fine, that was about 3 months ago.

And over the weekend it started acting up again.

2 days ago I poured 2 gallons of main-line cleaner down the toilet, figuring if a piece of clothing was the cause, the lye would eat thru it.

Problem remains. And I need to fix it before their New Years Eve party tomorrow night!

I've been thinking about a drain blockage, but the drain line below the toilet is nearly 2' straight down before it goes into the ground, and according to our son, a flashlight showed nothing obvious in the drain. So it's my thinking that, even if there IS a blockage down below, it's still allowing a gravity feed of over 4 gallons a minute of water to pass, so shouldn't the drain pipe itself should be able to take most if not all of a 1.5 gallon flush?

But it doesn't. The instant the water comes down from the tank, the bowl fills, and slowly drains.

So, because 2 gallons of lye did nothing (and all other drains in the place have no issues), I'm about 90% convinced there's a plastic toy (that lye won't eat) of some kind in the toilet, which moved out of the way once, and has since moved again.

So, this is pretty much a rant, and I'll be replacing a toilet tonight, unless someone has another idea of the cause I should look into first?

[ryan paulsen]

Have you checked the vent stack?

[Jerome Stanek]

My wife used one of those toilet fresheners that hang on the side of the bowl and one of the kids knocked it in and flushed. It didn't go all the way down but was just enough to do the same thing you described.

[daryl moses]

My wife used one of those toilet fresheners that hang on the side of the bowl and one of the kids knocked it in and flushed. It didn't go all the way down but was just enough to do the same thing you described.

I think you are on the right track.
My daughter [when she was young] unknown to me flushed one of her toys down the toilet. It was small enough to flush out of sight but too large to pass out of the internal trap in the toilet.
Toilets have an internal trap designed into them. My advice would be to remove the toilet, take it outside and turn it upside down. I'm just about certain you'll find something stuck in there.
Good luck!!

[Prashun Patel]

+ 1 on checking the vent to the toilet, or to the main stack if you only have one.

[Lee Schierer]

Years ago, we had a similar problem where a tooth brush went down the toilet and got stuck inside where you couldn't see it. Periodically it would collect enough paper to slow everything down. Several snaking attempts failed to dislodge it. When we remodeled we finally found the problem when the toilet was tipped over outside.

[Kev Williams]

I went to HD-dot-com to see if they had another like it (American Standard Comet), and they had a video showing what the thing will flush-- 3 cell phones, 56 chicken nuggets, 20 golf balls, a bunch of other stuff-- So I'm thinking weird toy, or hair brush?

Anyway, maybe what's caught will drop out. If not, the HD store is like a football-field away...

[Jerome Stanek]

I would try a wire hook and see if you could snag it. I had to pull mine and it dropped out when I turned it upside down. It was the wire hanger from the bowl freshener.

[Fred Chan]

Q-tip spanning across the flange at the drain hole in the toilet. Snake goes right through and can dislodge the toilet paper blockage but will build back up and prevent flow. Some people think everything is flushable. You haven't lived until you've had to clear a dental floss clog.

[Bill Orbine]

Had slow flushing toilet one time....replaced the toilet and problem solved. Water deposits made water move too slow, I believe. Either way, got me a crapper that never a stopper!

[Bruce Wrenn]

When you say "snake" do you mean a closet auger? The first job I had out of college, where I worked, downstairs ladies room would clog on a 28 day cycle. After asking that certain items not be flushed, without success, we fished out item, and took it, in a pie pan to EVERY lady who used toilet, and again asked that these items not be flushed. Never had any more problems. Neighbor's work badge went missing, and toilet started giving problems. Plumber was summoned,and when he removed toilet, guess who was smiling at him!

[Kev Williams]

I believe Ryan and Prashun above hit the nail with the vent stack--

I pulled the old toilet, dumped a bucket of water down the drain as fast as I could and it took it all no problem, so I put a new toilet over the hole--

And it did the same thing as the old toilet...

After removing the toilet I aimed the water line into the drain and running wide open, the drain took all the water easily...

Then I found a plunger... And the instant I pressed down over the drain pipe, I got back pressure. I could push the standing water down the pipe, but once I removed the plunger, all the water came right back. The one time I plunged about 10 times, I had to mop up water that blew back out of the drain. FWIW, the standing water is at least 2' below the drain opening. And when I plunge, I can hear water moving thru the pipes under the floor towards the bathtub, but the sound didn't seem to come from the tub drain. And plunging the tub drain, there was no back pressure at all.

Not looking forward to crawling under the mobile home in 20° weather, and not exactly sure how to troubleshoot and repair a vent pipe?

And since this is a mobile home and we pay an exorbitant amount of lot rent where it's at, I have one more question: Who's responsible for fixing the sewer line, me, or the landlords?

[Prashun Patel]

Wouldn't your vent go through the roof? Vent pipe is the same as the drain pipe, it just branches upward. On stationary homes, it usually goes up through the roof and is capped by a cover to prevent debris. If that cover dislodges or animals make their way inside, debris can lodge from the top. That prevents fresh air from coming into the drain as the water rushes down. With nothing to displace the water, the water won't go.

While I have never snaked a vent myself, I imagine (verify, please) that you just go to the roof, remove the cap, and snake it as you have snaked your toilet. You may find the clog very near the top of the pipe, so inspect that first before delving deeper.

[Robert Engel]

The approach to the vent pipe is from above.

Years ago, a plumber snaked out a teddy bear through the vent pipe.

Did I say "PLUMBER"????

I messed with it for 5 or 6 hours the plumber fixed it in 30 minutes.

[Erik Loza]

We went through this with our rental place over the summer. Sluggish to drain after being flushed. I did everything the internet said: Liquid plumber, snaked it out, reamed out all those holes under the rim, checked the vent stack, etc. No improvement. Was about ready to call a plumber when I thought, "I'll give it one more shot with the auger". Fed it in there and felt like I hit a wall. Kept working it and all of a sudden, no resistance! When I retracted the head, there were a bunch of orange peels embedded in it. Flushed pefectly after that. Point being, I "thought" I got the clog with the auger earlier but probably, just pushed it farther down the line without actually breaking it up. If you think about it, how complicated can it be? You need water supply, ventilation, and drain. It can only be three things.

By the way, I pulled a kid's toothbrush and army man fro the trap in the sink on that same visit. Naturally, the tenants had absolutely no idea how any of these things could happen.

Erik