Moen Faucet, it works... eventually.

I have a 12 year old Moen single lever faucet in my kitchen. About one week ago, it started showing signs of a problem. When I turn it on after it hasn't been used for an hour or two, the water pressure is very low, almost none. If I turn it on and off a few times, then the pressure gets better. Finally, it will reach full pressure and stay that way for as long as I use it in that session. But after an hour or two of inactivity again, it returns to this low pressure.

I'm not good at these things, but I did manage to read about Moen cartridge replacements and actually went thru the process of replacing the entire cartridge (model 1225) with a new one. I was pleased with myself. But an hour later, the problem was still there.



It is not an aerator issue. I have removed it entirely and still see the problem.

Any ideas? I am selling the house and close next week. I don't really want to invest in a whole new faucet.

thanks.
Rick.

It could be a washer in one of the shutoffs under the sink or the spray deverter clogged / blocked.

and the process to clear the spray diverter is what?

You need to isolate things a bit more. Is the pressure equally low for both hot and cold? If either the hot or the cold is the culprit, then the problem is either in the shutoff valve or the supply line for that side.

If both sides are equally bad, then you may have a partial blockage in both shutoff valves or supply lines.

diverter

That diverter is probably a large conic shaped piece that fits around the outside of the faucet body inside the spout. In fact, it may be stuck in the spout when you remove it. The easiest thing to do is throw it away. All that will happen is that the water will also flow from the spout when you use the sprayer, but few people have a problem with that.

To eliminate supply issues, close the stop valves, take the supply lines off at the faucet, and then turn on the supply valves, directing the water into a bucket. If the lines look bad, are kinked, or just on general principles, replace them with new flexible hoses (about $3 apiece). If you get a bunch of crud out of them, keep flushing until it runs clean. Once you're certian the supply is OK, if the problem persists call MOEN customer service at 800-289-6636 (800-BUY-MOEN). They're really pretty good.