leak - help!

hi, i apologize in advance on my lack of knowledge (i hope this makes more sense to you than it does to me) -

so, last night, i was standing on my toilet seat to fix something on the wall, and within about 5 minutes, i heard dripping coming from the toilet.

the dripping is coming from the back of the toilet, where two of the three bolts are (the bolts that are visible when you open the back/look in the tank. also, when looking in there, i noticed that the wax under the bolts was broken up and not totally under the bolts in some places).

the dripping wasn't getting any better, so i turned off the water and let the tank empty, and that seemed to help a lot.

so, i'm wondering - is the problem in those bolts with the wax ring under them? or is it maybe something else?

so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

thanks

You say you could hear dripping but you didn't say if you found any water on the floor???

sorry - yeah, there's water on the floor right behind the toilet

The bolts have a rubber washer under them and it sounds like they have disintegrated over time and need to be replaced.

I would also replace the tank to bowl gasket at the same time.
You will find it when you remove the tank bolts and pull the tank off the bowl.

What brand is it?

I agree with Cass. There is no wax seal under tank bolts, so what you are seeing is most likely the remains of the washers. Hardware stores sell these as a package with new nuts, bolts, washers, and bowl gasket. A reasonable amount of care needs to be taken when replacing these parts. The bowl gasket is placed on the tank and then the tank and gasket are pushed into the bowl by hand. Then the tank bolts and washers are installed. Pay attention to the order these are put in. It would not hurt to use some sandpaper inside the tank around the bolt holes to make sure the surface is smooth. Tighten the bolts alternating from side to side and do not over tighten as you can break the tank. These bolts are not used to pull the tank and bowl together, just to hold them together. When the tank is firm on the bowl and the bolts are tight, that's enough.

thank you both

bolts

Get the bolt sets with extra nuts and washers so you can put the bolts through the tank, with just rubber washers under the bolt head, place nuts and washers on the bottom of the tank and tighten them. THEN put the center washer on the tank, set it on the toilet and finally use the remaining nuts and washers to hold the tank in place. With the first nuts and washers in place and tight, the bottom ones do not have to seal the water chamber so they do not have to be super tight.

Come on Cara... You can level with us... You were standing on the tank lid huh? LOL

When you go to get the new tank to bowl kit, it would help to know what make and model toilet you have. Many take universal kits but some are special...

And while you're at the hardware store, pick up one of these:

LOL. good one.