Moen Kitchen Faucet Repair

I love this faucet! It's over 10 yrs old and I understand they aren't made anymore. It has a Pull UP (not pull OUT) spout (I think model is 7346, PN 91194 spout). I am trying desperately to fix it since I can't get one like it anymore.

I need a new cartridge (Moen is sending one out Free!) but I've noticed a leak coming from under the spout, somewhere above the hose connection. Also, the entire spout assembly is loose - it can slide around a little bit on the sink. Apparently, it's been leaking slowly for some time because the locknut is crusted onto the spout shank, so now I can't tighten it (or loosen it, for that matter). I can't get the screw loose under the plastic insert on the top of the spout either. (The spout is separate from the handle).

I am trying to get the spout apart so I can find out why it's dripping. How can I get that screw loose, and how can I break the locknut free so I can tighten it down?

I live in a mfd home (no, it's not a trailer, and no aluminum siding here ). The home is ~13 yrs old, and has the old gray (Quest?) piping throughout. It was my parent's home originally. Shortly after they bought it, they received a letter to join a class action lawsuit on the gray pipe to have the entire house replumbed, but for whatever reason decided against it. As time goes by and fixtures etc. are getting replaced, I am finding it very difficult to connect to the gray pipe fittings. Just the mention of it at you neighborhood hardware store gets me a "Oh, sorry - I don't have anything to connect to that." One of these days, I'm guessing I'll have a busted line and will have to replumb the entire house.

Go to Low*s and get a can od PB Blaster. Spray the nut and try to losen it. Be sure not to mess up the threads. You can try tightning a little then losen. You may need to spray a couple times. Don't get the spray in your eyes. I think it is called a pot filling faucet. Does it pull straight up?

Re: Moen Repair

Cass said:

Go to Low*s and get a can od PB Blaster. Spray the nut and try to losen it. Be sure not to mess up the threads. You can try tightning a little then losen. You may need to spray a couple times. Don't get the spray in your eyes. I think it is called a pot filling faucet. Does it pull straight up?

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Yep, it does. I think you're right - and it fills pots great (and washes them, not to mention giving a baby a bath!)

Where in Lowe's would I look for PB BLaster?

Thanks!

faucet

That was Moen's "Riser" faucet, but the spout is basically a single piece so I cannot imagine how it is leaking.

Re: Moen Faucet

The drip is coming from up inside the shank, where the hose connects. See how the hose goes inside of the black piece at the bottom of the shank? When I lowered the spout to take this pic, it started to drip - drip circled at bottom - the water travels from up inside down the hose. And the strange thing is that the water supply has been off for two days, so I don't even get why it's dripping at this point, unless there's still some water sitting in the line . . .

Thanks for your replies . . .

Replace the sprayer assembly or that black rubber washer that is the seal between the hose and the sprayer.


The reason it has been leaking even though not in use is because there is positive pressure on that line whenever the faucet is in use. When the sprayer is used, the directional flow allows the internal diverter inside the faucet to direct water solely to the sprayer.


A $5 item for the sprayer, $8 for sprayer and hose assembly.

It can be found in the tools section maybe on an end cap.

leak

You are giving advice for the wrong type of faucet. That is not a sprayer hose, it is a connection between the faucet and the spout. It is a hose connection because the spout can be pulled up to give 7" more space under it. That connection is a gasketed one, so you should be able to take the old rubber seal to a hardware store and find a new washer, or "O" ring, that fits it.

Re: Moen Faucet

hj said:

You are giving advice for the wrong type of faucet. That is not a sprayer hose, it is a connection between the faucet and the spout. It is a hose connection because the spout can be pulled up to give 7" more space under it. That connection is a gasketed one, so you should be able to take the old rubber seal to a hardware store and find a new washer, or "O" ring, that fits it.

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Thanks for the info. I'm still having trouble getting the screw out of the top of the spout, though . . . As soon as I do I'll get a new o-ring! Thanks VERY much for everyone's help (I'll post when I'm done!)

Best advice........get rid of the moen and buy a delta. Problem solved!


I got a customer out there right now that is a "Battered Moen Owner"

Got accused of misusing her faucet even though moen knows those backflow devices fail in their 875 series KS faucets.

The lady was floored by that response. Told the customer service at moen that maybe she needs legal representation to provide her knowledge for compensation for the sink countertop, the kitchen sink cabinet, the subfloor AND the linoleum floor that got stained by rust in the basement as a result of that product failure.


Customer had a new faucet in the box from moen in 4 days. She got smart and wished that nightmare on someone other than herself and sold it on eday!

Moen faucet repair

Well, I got the new cartridge at Lowe's (the replacement from Moen was sent regular mail from OH to CA, and I didn't want to wait until next week to get it) and installed it. I think I need to turn it around because I now have only cold water (on the hot side ). But when I turn the handle to the other side I get NO water at all. I'll try reinstalling it. Could my supply line be clogged? I'll unhook it and run it into a bucket and see what happens.

But the leak from the spout is still there. I finally got the screw out (which I discovered served no purpose), then unhooked the supply hose and cleaned everything off. Neither Home Depot or Lowe's had the washers I needed for this. One is a clear-ish plastic washer (not O-ring), the other a black washer. This connection is plastic (male, supply hose) to metal (female, bottom of spout post), with the two washers. Do I just need to replace those washers, or should this also have teflon tape on it?

I'm willing to give it one more try before I just buy another faucet . . . (*depressed at the thought of losing my pull up faucet*)

This is getting to be a recurring situation

Yesterday I had to replace another 875 series Moen faucet. I diagnosed the problem from the shop, told the customer to be defiant on the phone with Moen and demand a new faucet because of the damage it caused to the base of her cabinet.


Sure enough I get there and low and behold, this time it is the new style backflow preventor that is a $75 ticket item that hj stated.


Now if the new ones are leaking like the old ones did, and moen is lying about the fact that the new ones fix the problem, who's gaining here besides me the plumber? This is a serious flaw on this series of faucets because by the time you find out it is leaking, the damage is already done.

The holding cup bracket was a 1/3rd thickness that it was initially; that diverter had been leaking years, not months.

I figured out how that shroud pops off now on the new ones; large C-clip similar to what holds the cartridge in.

I didn't have the gumption to tell the customer that the one I'm putting in is the exact same design.......and will probably fail.

Here's what I get for "trusting" moen to fix that situation with those BP's; all of those faucets I've installed will eventually leak, none of which I personally bought, the customer did. But when they call me up years later and say "that faucet you put in is leaking and destroyed the base of my cabinet".....

I'm going to tell them again when I repeat myself for the second time that I prefer delta, I don't have problems with delta's mysterious leaking down through the cabinet and the faucet you bought has a history of the backflow preventor going bad without warning.

Take it up with Moen, demand a new faucet, demand an entirely different model if they'll let you and pay the difference to get away from that design. The situation alone possibly might compromise the working relationship with me even though I didn't buy the damn thing. Customers first thought is the plumber did it, didn't tighten up a connection right......even though it's years later. And I'm sure "some" will think I'm weaseling out of responsibility even though I'm telling the truth about the matter.


That's 2 in a month folks, probably not just an isolated case either since every time I'm called to work on these......I keep having the same identical problems. It's a dime-sized rubber diaphragm that loses its elasticity to close back after the water pressure is off. Either that or dirt but to fix it is a full dismantle of the faucet.

I'm glad to see this particular customer didn't get hustled like the last one did. You'd be surprised how many owners of that faucet just chuck it and buy another one without holding the flames to the manufacture.

RUGGED said:

I'm glad to see this particular customer didn't get hustled like the last one did. You'd be surprised how many owners of that faucet just chuck it and buy another one without holding the flames to the manufacture.

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Well, actually, I wouldn't be a bit surprised. I ended up throwing the Moen in the trash. I didn't buy a Delta, I bought a Price Pfister. I'd been without water in my kitchen for about a week and a half and got fed up. It's been in for about two weeks now. I actually had to replace the diverter already - they sent me the part free, of course. But they couldn't say why a brand new faucet needed a new part unless they inspected it. They "apologized for any inconvenience . . .

On the other issue in my original post, the gray Qest piping, I found a great plumbing supply store here. They were SOOOO helpful. They recommended this fitting - it says EZ Connect on my receipt - that is used to connect to this gray junk. I just sliced the pipe clean and slipped this on the end. I'm thinking about changing out all the gray supply lines and valves under the sinks now . . .

Loocie said:

I bought a Price Pfister. It's been in for about two weeks now. I actually had to replace the diverter already

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If something else goes wrong with that faucet in the next year, chuck that too.

Every time I've installed a PP faucet......I sit there and look at how many pieces come with the faucet.....amazing. Too many plastic parts for my liking.

I like Delta because it's so easy, a caveman can do it!

Loocie said:

. I'm thinking about changing out all the gray supply lines and valves under the sinks now . . .

Click to expand...

Gray pipe? IF it's the BP (someone correct me if I'm off alittle) pipe, that stuff was the subject of a class-action suit due to it's failures. Might want to look into that.

RUGGED said:

If something else goes wrong with that faucet in the next year, chuck that too.

Every time I've installed a PP faucet......I sit there and look at how many pieces come with the faucet.....amazing. Too many plastic parts for my liking.

I like Delta because it's so easy, a caveman can do it!

Click to expand...

I like my Delta pull out faucet (470 series). The side-to-side button to change the aeration sprayer seemed alot better than the other brands. It seemed all the other faucets used a rubber button to change the spray action - that rubber button seemed to crap out on all the other ones, even my in-laws $500 Grohe.

Regrets

I cannot believe this Price Pfister faucet I bought to replace my Moen in March. I mentioned above that I had to replace the diverter after a couple of weeks. Well, a month ago, the handle started falling down if I didn't have it up all the way. SO - - - had to get them to send me a new cartridge. That took about 3 weeks.

But wait! There's more! I installed the new part yesterday - now the handle wabbles back and forth on the cartridge post it attaches to. The original cartridge fit snuggly into the handle, but this one is smaller. Tightening the set screw has no effect - it's still loose.

3 parts in 3 months. I told them I was going to post my little story on the internet message boards. If I had an extra $200-300 I'd junk it right now, but that's not an option at this point. I'll have to wait another 3 weeks or so for the new part, and hope that holds out until I can get a different faucet. Imagine how much this would cost me if I couldn't install these parts myself . . . (OK, most of you don't have to imagine )

Loocie said:

I cannot believe this Price Pfister faucet I bought to replace my Moen in March. I mentioned above that I had to replace the diverter after a couple of weeks. Well, a month ago, the handle started falling down if I didn't have it up all the way. SO - - - had to get them to send me a new cartridge. That took about 3 weeks.

But wait! There's more! I installed the new part yesterday - now the handle wabbles back and forth on the cartridge post it attaches to. The original cartridge fit snuggly into the handle, but this one is smaller. Tightening the set screw has no effect - it's still loose.

3 parts in 3 months. I told them I was going to post my little story on the internet message boards. If I had an extra $200-300 I'd junk it right now, but that's not an option at this point. I'll have to wait another 3 weeks or so for the new part, and hope that holds out until I can get a different faucet. Imagine how much this would cost me if I couldn't install these parts myself . . . (OK, most of you don't have to imagine )

Click to expand...

RUGGED said it..."DELTA", when it comes to affordable "production line" faucets.
I often get customers who like to pick out their own fixtures, it's easier to give them a short list of faucets I don't recommend, "Price PFister" is top amongst them.
I'll do a Moen shower valve for the reason that they are better suited for hard water, but not a faucet.

Price Pfister, is good for GC's that are building cheap rental properties.

Is this a good thing - or a bad thing?

I got a reply from PP today. I had sent them an email after I installed the replacement cartridge:


Gee. I'm getting a new Price Pfister faucet. yay. I can see it now - 3 weeks from now something goes wrong. I'll have to get a new part and install it in my 'new' faucet . . . a vicious circle. I wonder if I can return it to the hardware store as a gift and get a different brand.

Replacement is Ceramic disc type

Sent in my proof of purchase and got the following reply:

Price Pfister values our customers and their satisfaction is of utmost importance to us. We will be replacing your faucet with a new unit at no cost. The replacement unit will be one of our new ceramic ceramic disc types faucets. Ceramic disc technology in the state of the art in faucets at this time, and I feel confident the you will find the new unit superior to your current product.​

What do you guys think of "ceramic disc technology"?