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Kohler toilet leak at tank base

Hi folks, I hope someone can help me out with some ideas!

We noticed a leak in our Kohler toilet yesterday. When the toilet was flushed, water came out between the base of the tank and the pedestal, towards the bowl. The tank doesn't leak into the bowl at all, and it doesn't leak any other time. We thought the triangular tank gasket may be the problem (must be the connection between the tank and the pedestal, right?), and replaced it. We replaced the tank gasket two years ago and everything went fine, so we felt confident. Bad idea, that confidence - now the tank drained itself, and we still got external water when flushing. We tightened down the flush valve nut, put the tank back on, and no more tank draining! But we still get water leaking out. What could cause a sudden leak like this? It couldn't have been going on more than a day or two.

I don't think we have too many rebuilds left in us - significant other is perilously close to breaking the darn thing so we have to get a new toilet! I'm not quite ready to give up yet. I've been reading that Kohlers seem to be problematic. If we got a tank crack or something, shouldn't it leak all the time? Why just when flushing? How much space should there be between the tank and the pedestal? Should we just tighten the heck out of the 3 tank bolts and see what happens?

Thanks!

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