Kohler toilet seat replacement for one-piece.

[fly71]

Yes - I just called Kohler and they are shipping the part out free of charge - Yeah!

[DES]

--I may be able to help with the rubber expansion bolt problem.
--Clearly the Kohler toilets are useless junk. The handle mechanism on mine is very touchy and hard to adjust. The toilet doesn't flush well or efficiently. But my real problems started when the Kohler toilet seat broke. I've replaced lots of toilet seats but the hidden aluminum tube that holds the toilet seat bolt inside the porcelain body was a new one for me. The corrosion that locked the steel bolt into place was a challenge. I cut the plastic toilet hinge off, but the steel bolt was another matter. I appreciate the suggestion to hacksaw the bolt head off, but I was wary of scuffing the porcelain surface where there's little room to work, so I drilled out the head and twisted off the remnants. As others have suggested, once the bolt head is gone, the rest of the bolt drops down into the internal void. The suggestion to drill out the alumninum receptacle and insert an expansion bolt/insert was interesting, but others have pointed out the difficulty of finding that bolt in just the right size. In addition I was wary of drilling out the tube and fracturing the porcelain. So I used a hollow wall anchor inside the aluminum tube. Fasten the seat down with a drywall screw and a washer and you're done. Incidentally, I put wheel bearing grease around the original Kohler bolt that I put back in the undamaged, threaded aluminum tube, hoping that I'll be able to get the bolt out easily next time. Good luck.
DES

[julietteo]

I have this same toilet seat issue as of Friday afternoon. Discovered the same as all of you, no way to get the second spinning screw off that toilet! Does anyone ever get the seat off and replaced with no problem? I really didn't know that I had to buy a special KOHLER seat either. After reading a few of the posts here, I called 1-800KOHLER and spoke with Carla who was very nice and understanding. She said she was very familiar with this problem. She said I could use any round seat, but needed a special KIT and she gave me the KIT number that 's was quoted in a prior post and that several plumbing supply places near me would have it. She gave me their names, addresses and phone numbers. I had mentioned to her that my home had flooded during Katrina and this toilet was installed the year after (2006). Due to that she wanted to send the KIT to me for free. I wanted to go buy it and get the seat on immediately - but then something made me ask her the price of the kit. As you know, it is $47.10!! I had a FIT! I asked her what fool designed a toilet that would require a kit to take the seat off in the first place and then if that wasn't bad enough, the fool's boss priced the kit at $47. She thought they designed it like this so the back of the bolt would not fall inside the toilet...get real...really? I have changed a lot of seats on toilets in my years, and none of the hardware has ever fallen inside the toilet. I did have the screwdriver fall in once. Anyway, I am getting the kit for free as well, and we are using another bathroom until then. I will post exactly how hard(??) or easy(!) it will be to accomplish once the kit has arrived.

[jadnashua]

Typical Kohler design decision...they like to do it their way. There may be some good reasons for it, but to me, anyway, most of them just seem to be because they can, not because it needs to be that way. It certainly doesn't make it easy (or in many cases cheap). Their better mousetrap generally isn't IMHO.

[julietteo]

I am back with update to my quest of the KOHLER toilet seat replacement. I received the "SEAT ANCHOR KIT" on 3/1/2011 (remember I called Kohler on 2/18 about it) it was sent via USPS. I wish I could post a pix of the kit for you as I took photos of it. It consisted of two metal bars, one to "stabilize" the bolt tight so you can get the bolt to screw out. NADA! NO, NOPE, No Can DO!!!
Step 2 of their instructions says if that doesn't work to - "may have to pull out bolt with pliers by gripping firmly and pulling upward". Step 3 says, when bolt is removed (???WHAT??? really, someone got it out??? Not me, not my husband, we had to cut the head of the bolt off and drill it out with a titanium dill bit. WHICH WE HAD TO GO BUY. THEN, we had to drill out the anchor that was left inside the toilet!!!!!!!! I just cannot believe this - CAN ANYONE BELIEVE THIS??? ANYONE???? Then, to add insult to this, this $47.10 kit does not include TWO of everything to put the new toilet seat on. NOPE. Only 1 set of washers, two bolts and two anchors. You CANNOT USE the bolts or screws that come with the new toilet seat. I purchased a $12.95 white round wood toilet seat made by some other company (DEFINITELY not Kohler) I was told by Kohler rep that I could use any other brand. So then we had to go BUY more washers and then put the seat on. It remained stable for two days. Then loosened up and started to shift again. The other thing is, you cannot just get a screwdriver and tighten it up...NOPE...you have to get a freaking ratchet and tighten it. I called KOHLER again today to complain about it and to ask them if they are still selling this design or have they changed the design after all these complaints. I have seen many more complaints besides here about this, AMAZON, ASK.COM, etc. Guess what they say? Oh, yes, they are still selling it, same design. Even though all these complaints have been sent to their design dept. I am not done with this. I am calling a different dept later and continue this. They need to take this off market until they fix this. Outrageous!!!

[Wayne T]

I have the same problem and after reading thru these posts I decided to call Kohler. They offered me the kit for $47 and I told them they should provide it for free due to their poor design. They said I had to buy it so I told them I would replace the toilet with a different brand and never buy another Kohler product. They said sorry but we can't help.

[jim15ranger]

I ran into this same problem a while back and came up with an alternative fix. Instead of buying the $47 dollar kit from Kohler (that was bound to have the same problem again in the future) or buying a hard to find rubber expansion plug, I went with an anchor bolt.

1.) Purchase a 5 pack of Hilti 3/8 in. x 1-7/8 in. Zinc-Plated Steel Hex-Nut-Head Sleeve Anchors.



The zinc-plated steel bolt will stand up to the corrosive environment the toilet seat is subjected to.

2.) Using a dremel tool, open up the fastener hole in the toilet porclien until the anchor bolt will slide in. The hole is almost big enough for the bolt so only a little bit of work with the dremel tool is needed.

3.) Slip the anchor bolts in and tighten down until they seat properly in the hole. CAUTION: Do not over-tighten the bolts, this may cause the porcelain to crack! Take your time, go slow, and just hand tighten the bolt.

4.) Cut the extra thread shank off the of the end of the bolt using a dremel or hack saw.

The nuts sit a little high so some toilet seats may nut provide enough recess in the hole to accommodate the 1/2" nut height. I found that this toilet seat worked perfectly

[jimbo]

Does the fact that a thread about changing a toilet seat has run to four pages, involves A dremel, a titanium drill bit , and hilti fasteners.......does THIS convince anyone that kohler is a pain in the butt?????????????

[ekevinmcgarry]

first you have to get mad at it and decide that if you fail, a replacement toilet is in order. take the sawzall with a metal cutting blade, protect the porcelain with the cardboard from the toilet seat box and cut the bolts. the old offending anchors will drop out of sight. good riddance.

take the plastic nuts which have wings. the wings are too large to seat in the existing holes. take you belt sander, turn it over and angle the plastic wings on the nut so the nut can be driven into the hole. drive the nuts home and attach the seat.

[ekevinmcgarry]

ignore my last post. it doesn't work. am getting a new toilet. not a kohler.

[Ramon Leigh]

Thanks for the info - Kohler is now off my list of suppliers for anything. Never thought much of their designs anyway.

[jtlapal]

Yes, I have been looking for over two years off and on. However, I think I may have found something that will work.
(I tried Home Depot's in Orange County, CA and they don't have the normal expansion plugs. In fact, they were quite rude when I showed them a printout from an earlier post saying Home Depot had them.)

What about these?

Part Description:
TOT THU651N TOP MOUNT SEAT HARDWARE FOR SKIRTED TOILET | THU599; THU615; THU510; THU651S

http://www.guillens.com/index.jsp?pa...&text=THU651N#



It looks like something that might work. Although I can't seem to find the actual specs on the pieces.

[AnotherJason]

HD has them - part # 83978 (trust me it took me two trips and me digging around in the speciality drawers) - still figuring out this works but looks good. I also saw a blog that if you complain to Kohler enough they will send you the repair kit for free.

Thanks very much for sharing the detailed info, I was able to get that part from HD and install the toilet seat.

[MBH]

I just called Kohler and spoke to Amber. She immediately knew the problem I was referring to and quickly informed me it was a design used by many manufacturers. She assured me it was not a Kohler flaw. I calmly told her two times that I thought Kohler should do the right thing and send me the kit free of charge. When I told her I could not afford the kit to simply replace a toilet seat, she agreed that Kohler would offer me a one time courtesy and send the kit free of charge. Don't take no for an answer, just ask two or three times. Here's to buying a Toto on the next round.

[ritmaz]

FIXED! Just replaced the seat with a new standard seat using drywall screws. They are called "Sharkies" 5/16" and cost about $2 for a 6 pack. (Use the plastic sleeve ones so you don't crack the porcelain.) Replace the screw that comes in the package with a much shorter screw, just long enough to push on the plastic and snap the wings out. (Had a couple laying around the bottom of the junk drawer). Use pliers to hold the plastic sleeve and insert the screw all the way in. The wings will expand but that's ok. Gently, pull the wings back together and insert into seat and bowl hole. Wiggle and use screwdriver to gently push all the way in. The wings will expand again and keep it snug. If it comes loose down the road, I have 4 more of these in the package. Good luck.