Every 40 seconds my toilet "fills". I have opened the back and manually straightened the flapper,

[CTyankee]

I have had the flapper replaced, the chain adjusted. While the toilet flushes waste properly, it doesn't stay filled. It goes down a bit then, as if it is being manually flushed, it "flushes itself."

It is a ground floor toilet, adjacent to the kitchen.

Any ideas what could be wrong?

[SWBTATTReg]

1. A couple of things perhaps. One, your flapper inside the tank is not closing securely enough

against the bottom of the inside tank, thus it keeps running OR there is an inside adjustment that you can make where the tank will continue to fill up w/ water until that point is reached. A floater or something like that (the floater rises w/ the water as the tank fills up, somehow it's not being recognized or your mechanism is damaged that senses the floater inside of the tank (hence since it never senses the tank being full, it keeps running).

Good luck.

[Beakybird]

2. Fix this quick. A bad toilet can lose hundreds of dollars of water if you ignore it.

[True Blue American]

7. Thanks, I was going to say the same thing. I called a plumber who fixed something. 5 minutes after h

It was phantom flushing again. My Son bought a $20 flapper, fixed it. I just showed him my water bill. Same time last year my water bill was double. Even if you have to replace the whole thing it would be worth it.

[sunflowerseed]

3. Disconnect the chain and see if it still does it

[getagrip_already]

4. a couple of things....

First, you can increase the cycle time by bending the arm that holds the ball to a more sever angle (also make sure the threads are tight and not shifting). That won't solve the issue but your toilent won't refill as often.

It does seem like it is leaking water out of the tank. That's usually the flapper not seating correctly. A new one may not seat correctly either and may need adjustment.

The other place it could leak is at the bottom of the overflow tube. Those are usually just press fit in and can leak if they get moved a little. Look down the tube and see if you see and leaking at the bottom....

[IA8IT]

5. Tons of links flapper fixes

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=toilet+flapper+repair

[OilemFirchen]

6. It could be a sign that your sewer line is blocked.

We experienced "ghost flushes" last year. A plumber snaked a camera through the sewer line from the cleanout and discovered a cave-in about twenty feet from the house.

$3,000 later and we're all set!

Call a plumber soon.

[mobeau69]

8. It's just not sealing between the flapper and it's seat.

Drain the tank, remover the flapper and check the seat. I would clean the seat area with comet and an abrasive cloth. Wipe it clean and instal a new flapper assembly. Leave the lid off and watch it operate a few times.

[CTyankee]

9. The plumber is here now. I should know something soon.

[CTyankee]

10. Plumber just left. He replaced all the parts in the back of the toilet. Works fine now.

His service time and parts came to $500. He says if we have any problems, to call him.

I muse that that is what our old age is and will be for the rest of the time we are living in this house: living off of pensions and inheritances, going to doctors, and, as my Daddy used to say: eat, sleep and shit. I would not use such colorful language myself but I am amused nonetheless.

[doc03]

12. Damn $500, I should have been a plumber. nt

[Pobeka]

13. I wouldn't call him back.

You can replace all the parts in a toilet for about $50, and that's retail not wholesale. All there is, is a flapper and shutoff valve assembly.

$200 - $300 seems a fair price to show up and replace the parts. It's actually very easy to do, I've done it myself multiple times, and I am no handyman.

$500 seems extremely high.

Just my 2 cents.

[2naSalit]

11. I was just about to...

Go investigate why my toilet has started doing that.. Mine is less than four years old but we have incredibly hard water here. I go through a lot of vinegar cleaning mineral deposits from everything that touches water.

I'm suspicious about the mineral deposits and think that the plugging device may have enough crust on it to leak into the bowl. I'm on a high hill and the water level in the bowl seems to change with the weather.

I'm going to flush it, pour half a gallon of vinegar in the tank, let it sit for an hour or so then flush and see what happens.