My friend was out of town for 6+ months. Cleaning lady was supposed to flush all toilets, but missed one. As a result, the water in the tank dried up and the rubber seal and sponge gasket are dried and hard. I've removed the fill valve and both sets of bolts, but the tank won't lift up. I've tried rocking the tank, but still cannot lift it up. The seal and gasket appear to have dried/expanded to tightly hold the flash valve in place. Any suggestions on how to resolve this issue? Use a saw to cut the flush valve where it goes through the hole to the base? Thanks in advance.

If your positive you have removed all the tank to bowl bolts the tank should come off by wobbling and lifting I would not suggest cutting the flush valve



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There 'may' be THREE 'sets' of bolts.

it is possible that the installer had put some sort of caulking on the rubber gasket to help it seal. (absolutely not the correct thing to do)
so it could be kinda "glued" together.
try very gently tapping some wood shingles between the tank and bowl. "GENTLY"

Thanks, guys, for the feedback. Much appreciated.

FYI, there were only two sets of bolts holding the tank to the bowl. Not wanting to lift too hard and break the ceramic, I decided to cut a small piece of the tube that goes from the tank to the bowl. Once that piece was out, I was able to squeeze the tube and felt something give underneath. Only then did the tank easily lift off the bowl. Had to take the tank outside and hose it down to get rid of all the small bits of plastic in the tank. There was no caulk/glue holding the sponge gasket to the bowl.

Now that I replaced all the innards, the toilet is working fine again.

Again, many thanks for the feedback!



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This is odd, the tank being stuck on to the bowl. I have worked on hundreds of old toilets and have never had much difficulty lifting the tank off.

me too..