Kohler 1044458 Flush Valve Kit

Works at it should on Kohler toilets

Anyone reporting that the installation of this Flush Valve was easy maybe was not using the same Kohler 1044458. The gasket is very firm and impossible to adequately compress by pressing down on the valve. I tried all the tips from the forum including olive oil, etc. I found two tips that finally allowed me to install the valve. The use of while and black Sharpies to mark the alignment of the valve tabs with the toilet hole was useful (from Julie). After about an hour of pressing on the valve with no luck, I used the compress and freeze tip (from Nancy). I used two 5 inch squares of 1/2 inch plywood to sandwich the gasket. Then using four, 2 inch "C" clamps to compressed the gasket to about 1/4 inch. I put it in the freezer overnight. In the mooring I removed the clamps and carefully used a knife blade to separate the frozen gasket from the plywood. The gasket easily slipped over the plastic tabs on the valve and, using the alignment marking, I very easily inserted and twisted the compressed gasket and valve into place. I left if for a couple of hours to allow the gasket to thaw and decompress before turning on the water.

Product worked fine... I applied olive oil to both surfaces of the rubber seal... lined up the tabs after inserting the seal on the unit. Rotated 15 to 20 degrees while pressing down hard enough to turn (both hands). Upon inspection of the old unit I saw it could have been re-used... just needed a new rubber seal and flapper... that woul have saved a few bucks. I cleaned up the old unit and will re-use it in 10-12 years lol. I can see why some folks had trouble getting enough downward pressure to rotate it... it takes some brute force.

This flush valve kit is very easy to install when you follow these simple steps. I think it took me 2 minutes from start to finish.1. Remove the rubber seal and trial fit the valve in the opening on the bottom of the tank. Do not rotate it. You want the valve in the position when you can pull it straight up to remove and drop it straight down into the opening. The goal is to mark the exact position so you know where to initially place the value to install. In my case, the top of the plastic valve was touching the back of the tank. At the point the value was touching the back of the tank, I used a silver sharpie to draw a vertical line in black plastic on the valve and black sharpie to continue the vertical line on the inside of the tank.2. Using the suggestion from many others on this forum, I coated the top and bottom of the rubber seal with vegetable oil.3. Place the seal on the valve.4. Place the valve inside of the toilet tank and line up the vertical lines.5. Push down and rotate the value clockwise. This step was easy and did not require much force.If you are having to apply a lot of downward force, I’ll make a guess that the tabs are not lined up correctly with the opening

Part works fine for my toilet and Kohler website has a nice parts identifying feature. Installation was very difficult though. I was afraid I’d break the plastic funnel and/or tabs by applying the force necessary to compress the seal enough to lock it in place.Kosher suggested boiling the seal for 2-3 minutes to soften it up. Others suggested spreading vegetable oil on both sides of the seal. Neither helped.I finally tried pushing down on the center with a rubber 3lb dumbbell with one hand while turning with the other and was finally able to generate enough force to rotate the part and get a good seal.

Dimensions are closer to 11x6x4 and 4" up to the flapper. I put some petroleum jelly on the gasket where it meets the valve, this made it MUCH easier to turn in place. Works great.

We built our home in 2008. It has 9 Kohler Cimmeron toilets. Over the past few months, this component has failed in 3 of the toilets. There are 3 plastic flanges located on the bottom of this flush valve that are used to securely lock the flush valve to the opening in the bottom of the tank. (You insert the three flanges into the triangular opening in the bottom of the tank and then rotate clockwise about 15 degrees to "lock" the flush valve in place.) I believe that over time the flushing action (when you depress the plunge lever on the toilet) eventually leads to mechanical fatigue and one or more of the flanges that hold the flush valve to the tank crack or simply break off. When this happens the toilet will start to leak and you will hear the fill valve kick in to replenish the lost water every few minutes or so.The flush valve kit is very easy to install...== Remove the old flush valve ==1. Turn off the water supply to the toilet.2. Flush the toilet to remove water from the tank.3. Disconnect the chain from the flush lever.4. Press straight down (firmly) on the flush valve and rotate counter-clockwise to disengage the flush valve from the tank.== Install the new flush valve ==1. Attach the seal gasket (doughnut) to the bottom of the flush valve. The seal should be installed completely onto the bottom of the flush valve and the 3 tabs on the bottom of the valve should be exposed.2. Apply some olive oil or vegetable oil to a paper towel and rub this oil generously onto both the top and bottom of the gasket. This will greatly aid in the installation.3. Carefully align the bottom of the flush valve with the triangular opening in the bottom of the tank so that the tabs are fully inserted into the opening.4. Using both hands, press down FIRMLY (straight down) and rotate clockwise about 15-20 degrees. If you cannot rotate the valve then you are not pressing down hard enough. You must press down FIRMLY so that the gasket will compress enough so that the unit can rotate.5. Re-attach the flush lever to the chain.6. Turn on the water supply and verify that everything works properly.