Rim wash

Hi. I just moved into a new home (well, it's new to us) and we're having a problem with one of the toilets. I first noticed it when a urine smell was emanating from the toilet. I had just cleaned the toilet the day before so I thought maybe there was leak -- I couldn't find one. I then noticed when I flushed the toilet, water wasn't coming out of the rim from the front of the toilet (from about 4:00-7:00, if looking at it like a clock). So I'm thinking that part of the bowl is not being "flushed" and urine is just staying there.

So my question is: is there a way to fix this? Or do I have to buy a new toilet? Not knowing anything about toilets and how to fix them, I'm wondering if it's worth trying to fix. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

Try a coat hanger and poke the holes under the rim. If they are clogged up with mineral deposits, that may resolve it. Not all toilets wash that well. If it is one of the older 3.5-5gallon jobs, you might want to consider a new one.

I agree with Jim that you need to clean those holes, but I don't think that the cause of the odor. The water that comes from those holes is to wash to sides of the bowl. The actual flushing is caused by the majority of the water from the tank emptying into the bowl and pushing the old water through the trap. The odor may be from urine that is under the toilet, either from a leaking seal or careless use. Also assuming this is and old 3.5 gallon toilet, this might be the time to buy a new unit.

Is your toilet a Crane or Universal Rundle toilet? My grandmother has a Crane Atlas model and has the same problem with her toilet. Like you said from 4:00 to 7:00 no water washes the bowl. It's just the design of the toilet (open rim design, not the holes under the rim), but what you could do is stick something in the back of the rim where most of the water is released...this will redirect the water flow and might wash the other part of the bowl. But the rinse is a bit less at the back when you do this and the flush doesn't operate the same. It's a bit of a hassle to do this so you may want to consider a new toilet. Crane seems to have fixed this problem now and has redesigned the bowl. This a fairly old design and when this toilet first came about there was no problem with rinse...I couldn't imagine why they changed the design...I suppose they changed it back because of complaints.

Thanks for all the advice! It is a Crane toilet. From what I can tell, there aren't any holes...it looks like the water just spills over the lip. The toilet is definitely an original so that would make it about 19 years old. Not sure what the normal lifespan of a toilet is but it looks like I'll just get a new one (the previous owner didn't take very good care of it...it's just plain NASTY inside).

Make sure you choose wisely if you do decide for a new unit.

MSanders said:

Make sure you choose wisely if you do decide for a new unit.

Click to expand...

Care to elaborate? This is our first home so my expertise in choosing a toilet is virtually nill. I was going to troll the forums a bit and look for recommendations but if you have any, please share. Thanks!

Many of us regulars on this forum are fans of the Toto line. This may be in part because Terry Love sells and recommends them, but the real reason is they are a very fine product. You can see some of the Toto line as well as other brands in the Report on Low Flow Toilets on the home page. Totos are not cheap, however there are several excellent models that are reasonable. The Drake is a very popular model, but you can't go wrong with any of them.

Take a look see here... https://terrylove.com/crtoilet.htm