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Old 02-01-2016, 08:38 AM   #1
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Toilet Leak Question-2012 Journey 36M

During the night we believe our toilet foot pedal got stuck and when we woke up this morning there was not only water all over the floor (fresh water) but it had leaked down into a couple compartments and was dripping from the bottom of the coach. We can dry those out--my question is we still have a very slow drip coming out of the furnace compartment (on the outside of the coach). We know from past experience the furnace is sealed--is there a possibility that this furnace compartment is full of water? Thanks for any advice.

We have a 2012 Winnebago Journey 36M
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Old 02-01-2016, 09:29 AM   #2
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I don't think the furnace is full of water, perhaps the water got into the furnace, but as you've discovered there's a weep hole to drain it.

I'm more interested in the leak's origin. If the pedal gets stuck down, I'd think it would open the toilet valve into the black tank and the running fresh water would drain into the black tank. Is there a sprayer that could be leaking? When my toilet valve was leaking, I had to replace it to replace the leaking valve seal.
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Old 02-01-2016, 09:56 AM   #3
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I don't think the furnace is full of water, perhaps the water got into the furnace, but as you've discovered there's a weep hole to drain it.

I'm more interested in the leak's origin. If the pedal gets stuck down, I'd think it would open the toilet valve into the black tank and the running fresh water would drain into the black tank. Is there a sprayer that could be leaking? When my toilet valve was leaking, I had to replace it to replace the leaking valve seal.
We took the cover off the furnace and it's fine--no water. That makes sense--if the pedal was stuck it would open the toilet valve. Have to investigate further. Thanks.
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Old 02-01-2016, 11:07 AM   #4
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What we think happened is it was only stuck open a tad--not enough to open the valve for the toilet to drain--it took several hours for the toilet to overflow. We are going to keep a close eye on it--that's for sure.
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Old 02-02-2016, 07:28 AM   #5
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You might want to put a fan by the grill for the LP furnace return air to help dry out the furnace area.
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Old 02-03-2016, 10:48 AM   #6
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You can control the situation better if you disconnect city water and only turn on the pump when you're there and awake. Makes it easier to test and track down leaks by using the pump.
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Old 02-17-2016, 08:57 PM   #7
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Update

Long story short--the toilet quit holding water right after the flooding and the valve would get stuck open a bit. We replaced the seal which fixed part of the problem but then had a water leak under the foot pedal and we had to fool with the pedal to get the valve to close which made us leery that we were going to have another flood. We placed a call to Thetford and they told us to replace the water valve (which had already been replaced by the previous owner) and another part. We decided just to replace the toilet and start from scratch. We replaced it with the same model (Aqua Magic Style II). Hopefully this one will work for awhile. You shouldn't have to replace multiple parts or replace a toilet on a 3 1/2 year old RV. Thanks for everyone's help.
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Old 02-17-2016, 09:06 PM   #8
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In all my years of RV'ing I've never had to replace a valve or seal on any of the toilets we've had. The last rig was 13 yrs old and everything in the toilet was original.
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Old 02-19-2016, 11:38 PM   #9
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Same problem, multiple times. After we had the coach about 8 months, the toilet pedal seemed to get sticky, and even though it would close and hold water in the bowl, the valve would keep dribbling in water at a slow pace. If we didn't catch it, and work the pedal a few times, it would overflow the bowl and leak on the floor. After a month or so, the valve behind the pedal started dripping, so we had the dealer, under warranty, replace the valve. All was good for the next 12 months, until it started doing the same thing again.


It was an easy process to replace the valve, and the problem went away for another 10-14 months or so (full time living here). I replaced the valve again, problem went away. Repeat every 10-14 months or so.


Conclusion I made, was that there was some sort of defect in the toilet side of the valve, and after 10 months of fulltimer use, the replaceable valve would malfunction. It costs me about $12 for a new valve kit from Amazon, about 10 minutes to fix every 10 - 14 months. Some day I will probably replace the toilet.
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Old 02-21-2016, 08:09 AM   #10
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Guess we can expect a lot more repairs--what you describe is exactly how our problem began (with the sticky pedal). Happy travels.
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Old 02-22-2016, 10:14 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Linda3612 View Post
During the night we believe our toilet foot pedal got stuck and when we woke up this morning there was not only water all over the floor (fresh water) but it had leaked down into a couple compartments and was dripping from the bottom of the coach. We can dry those out--my question is we still have a very slow drip coming out of the furnace compartment (on the outside of the coach). We know from past experience the furnace is sealed--is there a possibility that this furnace compartment is full of water? Thanks for any advice.

We have a 2012 Winnebago Journey 36M
We have had this problem a couple of times. Only once did it get as bad as you described. Driving the coach helped to get the water out of those hidden areas. Did any water go into the floor vents? That could be a problem.

Now, what causes this to happen. The "big one" we had was because of a can of air freshener getting caught behind the toilet and it interfered with the flush valve. The other times were directly related to low water pressure. Watch for this one. If your toilet is not stopping completely after a flush you must find the problem ASAP. The overflow will happen again.

Did this happen on shore water or pump?

Rick Y
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Old 02-24-2016, 05:34 AM   #12
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Just a thought here.....

Have you maintained silicon spray on the bowl seal, or the peddle where the pivot action occurs?

We have a 2012 Journey 36M. I try to keep silicon spray on both of these areas, and so far, after 4 years have had zero toilet problems. ( I just jinxed it )

Worth a try
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Old 02-24-2016, 06:37 AM   #13
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Guess we can expect a lot more repairs--what you describe is exactly how our problem began (with the sticky pedal). Happy travels.
We have the 2012 Journey 40U and had the same problem more than once. I finally replaced the whole thing with a more expensive model and (keep my fingers crossed) have used it full time now for a year with no problems.
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Old 02-25-2016, 07:43 AM   #14
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In our case, with the Thetford Style II toilet, the problem appeared to be a sticky pedal that wouldn't quite stop the flow of water, and we tried all sorts of sprays and such, which seemed to help for a while, but every now and then the flow would just barely trickle in, until overflowing the bowl, if not caught in time. after a week or two of that, there would also appear a slight drip from the valve area.


But when replacing the replaceable water valve (a kit), the pedal would work like new again, no sprays necessary, and all extra flows and drips stopped. For about 10-14 months, when the problem repeated. Again, each time the valve kit was replaced, all worked like new.


After the third time replacing, I came to the conclusion that the toilet itself must have a defect where the valve mounts, and that after 10-14 months of full-time use, there was enough backpressure building, that the pedal seemed sticky, water would trickle into the bowl and an external drip would start.


So I just got in the habit of keeping a valve kit on hand, a 15 minute fix, once every 10-14 months. Someday, perhaps I will replace the toilet.


Keep in mind too, we are living with the toilet, full time, have been now, for nearly 6 years. So non-full-timers might never notice our particular problem, even if they shared the same defective toilet.
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Old 02-25-2016, 12:52 PM   #15
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We have had this problem a couple of times. Only once did it get as bad as you described. Driving the coach helped to get the water out of those hidden areas. Did any water go into the floor vents? That could be a problem.

Now, what causes this to happen. The "big one" we had was because of a can of air freshener getting caught behind the toilet and it interfered with the flush valve. The other times were directly related to low water pressure. Watch for this one. If your toilet is not stopping completely after a flush you must find the problem ASAP. The overflow will happen again.

Did this happen on shore water or pump?

Rick Y
Fortunately, the water did not go into the vents. The problem started when we were hooked up to shore water but we do not have low water pressure--the problem was with the toilet itself. We have since replaced and it is working fine--hope it continues!
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Old 02-25-2016, 12:55 PM   #16
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Just a thought here.....

Have you maintained silicon spray on the bowl seal, or the peddle where the pivot action occurs?

We have a 2012 Journey 36M. I try to keep silicon spray on both of these areas, and so far, after 4 years have had zero toilet problems. ( I just jinxed it )

Worth a try
We have only owned this motorhome a few months, so we have no idea if the previous owner did or didn't. We do know he had already replaced the water valve. Glad you have not had this problem--it is no fun! We will be sure to keep silicone applied and hope for the best with our new one.
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