Couture Toilet Repair Parts
By Kohler

Q. "The GP1138930 comes with some colored inserts. What are those for?"
A.Since the Kohler GP1138930 is a replacement for a variety of fill valves, it comes with a selection of color coded flow restrictors. To select the correct insert, check your old fill valve (the one you're replacing) and use the same color restrictor on your new GP1138930 fill valve. See example of the four included restrictors.

Q. "I installed a new fill valve and my new valve comes on (and then goes off) for a few seconds about once per hour?"
A. This could be caused by many things. The most common is with a Fluidmaster 400. This is a great valve but be sure to install the 1/4" tube per their instructions. Use the clip that comes with it and do not just stick it into the overflow tube or it will go on and off every so often by itself. If that isn't it, take some food coloring and place it in your tank. Wait a few hours and if some of the color has gone into the bowl then you probably need a new flapper.

Q. "My Universal Rundle toilet tank has a tilt valve. How does the Fluidmaster 400A fill valve allow the bowl to refill?"
A. If you are using a Fluidmaster 400A then you must also use the Fluidmaster #599 refill tube & clip. The clip attaches to the back of the tank and keeps the 1/4" refill tube pointed towards and into the overflow tube of the tilt valve. The 1/4" refill tube must not be attached directly into the overflow tube. There must be an air break between the refill tube and the overflow tube to keep the 400A from siphoning the water in the tank and putting it into the bowl continuously causing the 400A to turn on and off continuously.

Q. "What is the difference between "OEM" and "will-fit" parts? And what does OEM mean anyway?"
A. "OEM" stands for "Original Equipment Manufacturer". This refers to anything from the original manufacturer that is sold to a second company to use in production of that second company's product. In other words, many toilet manufacturers outsource for the internal working parts of the toilet, such as the fill valves, flush valves, or flappers. When this happens, they have the opportunity to use an existing part, or to spec something for the specific toilet. When the toilet manufacturer chooses to use an existing part, the manufacturer of the part can still sell that piece under their own name. If the toilet manufacturer chooses to spec something for the specific toilet, the part manufacturer can then only provide that part to the toilet manufacturer. What this means for you is that you can sometimes get the *exact same part* (by the original manufacturer of the OEM part), but under another name and at a better cost! So when your toilet's internal working parts need to be replaced, you may have the option to use either the "OEM" part number or use the "will-fit" part number to order what you need. Please note that only some "will-fit" items are manufactured by the OEM manufacturer. If this is essential to your repair, please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to check for you.

Q. "How do I find my Kohler model number?"
A. For our customers' convenience, we often list both the model number and the tank number of the Kohler toilets we offer parts for. If you already know your model number, that's great - but oftentimes this information won't be available to you. What you'll need to do then is look for the TANK number, which is right where you'd expect it to be on the inside of your toilet tank. Grab a flashlight, carefully remove your tank lid, place your lid somewhere safe, and look around inside your toilet tank for a 4-digit number beginning with either a 3 or a 4. Certain specialty toilets may have a 5-digit number starting with a 1. The number will be either molded into the porcelain or stamped on in blue or black ink. This is your tank number and you can use it to find the parts you need to fix your toilet.

Q. "There are letters and/or numbers after the model number inside my Kohler toilet tank - what do those mean?"
A. Kohler offers many variations of almost all their toilet models, and has experimented in the past with many different features. Typically, numbers (or a single letter/number combination like K4 or Y2) after the 4- or 5-digit model number indicate the color code for your toilet. If your model number is followed by letters, those usually have different meanings to indicate the features of your toilet or will indicate that you have a specialty Artist Edition toilet.