KOHLER 471147 Genuine Part Flush Valve Assembly Kit, 0.75 x 3.25 x 10.00 inches

The part is the same that came in the original toilet. It is a bit tricky to install though because the gasket is quite thick and makes it almost impossible to push the valve inside the toilet and turn it. I found in YouTube however a clever trick that made the installation supereasy: compress the gasket and freeze it. I put it between two wooden boards, applied a pressing tool to it, so it would stay thinner and froze it for 4 hours in the freezer. After that I put it back in the flush valve before it defrosted, and install it. No hard pushing, nothing; the gasket remained so thin it was easy to push the valve and turn it. Once the water started filling up the tank, the gasket defrosted and expanded, sealing the tank perfectly.

Quick install (no problems):- Turn off the water supply to the toilet.- Drain the water from the tank by flushing the toilet and soaking up any remaining water with a sponge or towel.- Make sure you have good lighting and visibility inside the tank for easy access.- Remove the old flush valve by twisting it to the right and pulling it out of place.- Install the new flush valve by aligning the three teeth on the valve with the notches inside the tank.- Use both hands to press down firmly, then twist the valve to the left to secure it in place.- Turn the water supply back on and check for leaks.The entire process should take around 20 minutes.

Instructions to recommend wetting the o-ring gasket and I soaked it underwater for 10 or so mins as another reviewer recommended. That certainly helps but it does indeed still take significant pulling force towards the “front” wall to get the three plastic teeth seated deep enough to allow then turning it into place. The three plastic teeth are fairly robust but it is a bit of an anxious moment when pulling hard and turning the smaller plastic bits into place against the unforgiving porcelain. I found it helpful to (without the seal) mark in pencil on the “back” wall the exact angle position of the piece where the three teeth perfectly align with the three areas that accommodate the teeth, so I knew it was in the best position when pulling hard with the gasket on. Can see why the clamp squish and freeze method would be helpful to eliminate the need to pull hard while installing. Works well when installed. OEM kohler box and parts.Good that Kohler moved away from using this part in subsequent models. It’s a relatively unique plastic part not available in local hardware stores and when your old part breaks (the plastic teeth on my 23 year old original part broke while I was trying to replace the flapper) you want the most essential parts of your toilet that occasionally need replacing to be parts that are available ASAP in local stores.

I bought these after both of my 20 years old Kohler Raphael toilets started leaking -at the same time!- After so many years submerged in water, the gasket had expanded to the point it started to make cracks on the weakened plastic tabs. In one toilet, the Flush Valve just came off completely from its socket, rendering the toilet unusable. These are exactly the same parts that came with the toilets and should last for another 20 years (there is hope)Now onto the installation, the hard part. This piece has a very tight fit with the tank's wall, thanks to its massive gasket, and there is only one way to push it into it and then turn it to reach its final position. This could be really hard to do, needing a lot of trial and error an decent force to push the piece in. It can be really frustrating and you can damage the plastic tabs if not careful. Whomever in Kohler thought this was a good design was probably fired a long time ago. Or maybe not as it lasted for 20 years. Who knowsAnyway. I'm not a fan of the freezing method some other reviewers explain here. These gaskets are not designed to be frozen, and in my view freezing them may alter their chemical composition, reducing its useful life. Also, they may break if not treated carefully when frozen as they have lost all its flexibility. Freezing them turns them into hard pieces of fragile plastic, and once they expand back to its original form, even very small cracks will become bigger, and the gasket less flexible (NASA learned this the hard way, back in the 80s)An alternative to freezing it and what Kohler somehow recommends -even if not directly, they just say to "wet it"- is to soak them in water for a few minutes. This will in fact expand the gasket a bit, which you would think is the exact opposite of what's needed, but what it does the most is to soften it. This gasket has some capacity to absorb water, its seal is provided in part via expansion under water. Once the gasket is soft enough, it will be easier to compress and just a decent amount of pressure and turn will install it easily. Think about a kitchen sponge: hard when dry, soft when wet. I learned this while installing it in the first toilet. After a few unsuccessful tries I noticed that after the gasket became wetter, it was easier to compress and I eventually installed it. So for the second toilet I accelerated this process by leaving the gasket in water for a few minutes. The installation was fairly easy and I did it at the first try, no issues whatsoever

What can I say?... We now flush with pride.

I had the hardest time installing this until I came across a video that a 90 year old man did showing how he got it on. I'll save you the trouble looking for the video...this is how to do it. 1) take off the rubber gasket. 2) place between two pieces of scrap wood and compress it using clamps. 3) freeze it overnight 4) when frozen and ready to use immediately, take out of clamps and install. Super easy peasy with the gasket compressed. Remember that the gasket thaws back to normal thickness quickly and it gets put on at a 30-45° angle to the right. A previous repair by a previous homeowner had snapped off the tabs on the assembly kit so make sure not to make that mistake. My toliet tank seemed to have only 1 exact positioning to get it in there. I ended up having to refreeze the gasket, because I fidgeted around with it too much the first time. Once installed the gasket thaws into a nice super snug fit.

Serves the purpose