Usually, we would suggest use a professional plumber service to repair the toilet, since it may be much more difficult than it looks like. However, in some cases, if you had certain experience already, you definitelycan try it yourself.

If the flush failed in the toilet, the bowl contents can still be flushed out by quickly emptying a large bucket of water into the bowl at once. A domestic hose pipe cannot supply water fast enough to fill the siphon tube, so it will not work. After flushing some water should be added to fill the basin to reform the gas trap.

The trick part is the flush tank repair. For flapper-flush-valve style toilets found mostly in North America, if the handle had to be held down to achieve a complete flush, we may need adjust the handle-float-stopper mechanism. The handle of a toilet is attached to a stopper via a chain. A float is attached to the chain between the handle lever and the stopper. The float acts as a counter-balance to allow a certain amount of water to escape through the flush hole in the tank. The float mechanism on the chain should be some distance under the water level of the tank so it can keep the stopper open during a flush. At a certain level the float will pop to the top of the water and the stopper will close. The float should be at a position on the chain where it is under water and does not have so much buoyancy to allow water to leak through the stopper.

However, for siphon-flush-valve style toilets, the siphon's plastic diaphragm may be split and crack after approximately 10 years. The effectiveness of the flush can deteriorate suddenly or gradually as the cracking increases. This will often prompt owners to replace the entire system.

However, the diaphragms are of a standard design and are cheap and simple to replace. It worthes trying to replace it before changing the entire system. Inside the cistern, unhooking the flush-handle's s-link allows the plunger and diaphragm to be removed, once the lower part of the siphon is unscrewed, it is not necessary to remove the whole assembly with some multiple part siphons. Most are one piece and require removing from the cistern completely. There is also a small rubber diaphragm in the ballcock inlet assembly, which can deteriorate after about 10 years. If adjusting the water level becomes problematic, we had better replace it which is not expensive.