I need HELP!!!: toilet leak

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toilet leak

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Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
Forum Discription: Perplexed/need help with a problem - ask here
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=15128
Printed Date: 09 Jun 2025 at 7:32am
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Topic: toilet leak

Posted By: Maddoxjprice
Subject: toilet leak
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2022 at 10:07am

I'm a new R-Pod owner of a 2012 177 that I'm living in at a RV park. So when I use the toilet about 20 minutes later there's a little bit of water (or pee water because it smells like urine too) that builds up on the pan. I can't find the source of the leak! Where could it be coming from? It's just a very small about of water (it's not yellow so I can't imagine that it's all urine. I just clean it up and it doesn't come back until I use the toilet again. I'm so confused. Help!

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Maddox Price

Replies:

Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2022 at 11:31am

By "builds up on the pan," are you saying the shower pan? It is possible that the seal for the toilet needs to be replaced. You would need to find a replacement seal at an RV parts store, take the toilet loose from the mount, lift it and clean out the old seal. Then you could insert the new seal, replace the toilet, and tighten it down. That should fix it. That is, unless the toilet itself is cracked. However, since you say it takes 20 minutes for it to show up, I expect it is the seal.

Look for your model toilet to find the appropriate seal.

https://www.amazon.com/rv-toilet-seal/s?k=rv+toilet+seal - https://www.amazon.com/rv-toilet-seal/s?k=rv+toilet+seal

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: Maddoxjprice
Date Posted: 02 Feb 2022 at 11:37am

Thanks! I'll go do that. I hate having peepee water on the shower pan. It's pretty gross.

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Maddox Price

Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2022 at 3:32pm

I'm guessing it's the flush valve leaking. The water line connects to the back of the toilet to the flush valve, which would make sense that it only leaks after using the toilet.

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2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding

Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2022 at 6:36pm

I don't think it is the flush valve since that would not carry a urine odor with it. That is why I think it is the seal. It wouldn't hurt to check the valve also since that would likely need to be disconnected to remove the toilet in order to replace the seal.

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2022 at 7:09pm

The clue about the urine smell may be a red herring. I think the valve is more likely, especially if it's been exposed to freezing weather recently. I've been careless and had two of them crack from freezing. The leaks are continuous though. Small, but non-stop if the water is on. It might help to use a hand mirror, but with the water on you should be able to see the leak behind the toilet if that's what it is.

Maybe I've been lucky but I've never had a seal go bad, and it seems unlikely that a bad seal would cause anymore than a tiny leak that wouldn't about to much. Even with a bad seal most of the flushed bowl contents are going to go straight down into the tank.

As for the urine smell, that seems fairly likely anytime you stick your nose too close to a toilet.

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2010 176
FJ Cruiser

Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2022 at 7:56pm

OTOH, the amount said to be "a little bit." However, I admit that odors can be present. If the shower drain trap is dry, odors can come up through that, but that would be from the gray water tank. It would likely be helpful to see if it can be seen where this water is flowing from, the front, sides, or back of the toilet.

One thing that may help rule out the seal might be to fill the toilet bowl. Add food coloring until it is a pretty dark color, not just lightly tinted. Then flush. If you see colored water in the shower pan, it would establish that it is the toilet bowl seal that is leaking. If you don't, then it might be the flush valve. Being Florida, freezing and cracking is less likely, but I know Florida does get freezing temps. I've been there visiting my parents during some of them. However, those temps are usually only an overnight freeze, not a northern deep freeze. Wear and tear on the valve though is a possibility.

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: ron_whitt
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2022 at 6:51am

Excellent idea Stephen. Must remember that one.

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Ron & Shirley
2020 Tacoma
2012 177 rpod

Posted By: Mooree
Date Posted: 15 Aug 2023 at 10:52pm

An https://www.outdoorbits.com/rv-toilet-not-holding-water/ - RV toilet's ability to hold water might also be affected by a break in the fill tube. The RV holding tank's water supply is routed through this line to the toilet. A leak in the fill tube of an RV toilet causes the water to drain out rather than stay in the bowl.

Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 15 Aug 2023 at 11:29pm

I disagree. A leak in the fill tube might leak down the back of the toilet, making one think that the toilet seal is bad. It would not cause the bowl to empty. The only thing that can cause that short of a cracked bowl is the seal on the flush valve (in the bowl), not the fill valve. A leaking toilet flange on the base can cause that water to leak out from beneath. Now, if the flush valve is bad and the bowl is draining, fumes from the holding tank can come up through that leaky seal, but that would not explain the water on the floor. That is most likely the flange underneath the toilet.

See this video for the flange: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge_uADHQnB0 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge_uADHQnB0

And this one for the flush valve seal (Dometic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGJh09MyLoo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGJh09MyLoo

And Thetford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeDjn0_Rg28 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeDjn0_Rg28

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS