Toilet keeps running

I hope someone here may be able to help me not have a plumber come out for what may be a simple service call. My toilet has started to run well after being flushed. What I've done successfully to stop it from running is by gently lifting a small black vertical "lever" for a second as illustrated by the attached image. I can provide more info if needed, but I don't know what else to provide yet. Thanks for any help!

For about $1, you can buy a new sealing gasket that should stop that problem. You have a Fluidmaster valve (I think). That part is available at most any hardware, plumbing, and big box stores. No tools needed, the thing twists off (instructions on the new seal). Just make sure to turn the water off first!

Thank you for your reply. Someone else replied about raising the float first to see if that may be the issue. Any credence there before I start replacing parts? Thanks again

hunters said:

Someone else replied about raising the float first to see if that may be the issue.

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Actually, you might want to try lowering the float, not raising it. Lowering the float should lower the water level if the problem is not a leaking valve.

The lever attached to the float presses on the seal to stop the water flow...the float itself is not the issue, it's the rubber seal it presses on to make it stop the water flow. Changing the float level (lower) would put more pressure on the seal, but shortly, fail to operate again, and then, your water level would be messed up when you eventually do replace the seal. It's really easy, and it's cheap. Once you've done it, you'd be done in about a minute...just buy a new seal, and it will stay fixed for years.

jadnashua said:

...the float itself is not the issue...

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That's assuming of course, that the valve is bad and nobody jacked with the float. The OP got bad advice WRT to raising the float.

In the pic, it looks like a good portion of the float is still above water but the water is up to the overflow tube.

Thanks for the tips all. This weekend, I'm going to do something about it. Will report back. Thanks again!