Toilets are made of vitreous china and if the tank bolts are over tightened, the china will crack and can cause a leak. The leak will come directly from the toilet tank and can be anything from a slow drip to a good flow of water.
My goodness, overtightening flange bolts will cause either the flange slots to fail (inconvenient at best, mega-expensive at worst), or crack the toilet (also probably expensive).
They should be snug, but not too tight. Overtightening them can crack the toilet tank, which would create an even bigger problem (and an even bigger leak). In most cases, replacing these components will stop the annoying leak and prevent water damage to your bathroom walls or floors.
Ruining the Fastener
If the screw is so tight that the tools mentioned above cannot move it, applying them may cause the screw head to strip out or snap off, which compromises the integrity of the attachment and renders the fastener useless.
You can try to twist the bolt back into place. (grab the top of the bolt with some channellock's or any pliers and turn it a quarter turn, and try to feel if its still loose,if it is repeat the process. If you don't feel it 'catch' and get tight again, you will need to take off the toilet and check the flange.
The chances of the bolts corroding or getting worn out are even higher if the water is hard. However, it's not always that you need to replace the tank bolts. Sometimes the leakage may be due to loose bolts. In this case, you will only have to tighten the bolts and straighten the wobbly toilet tank.
In many cases, the fastener is not to blame. Yielding fasteners are typically brought about by too much torque. An externally threaded fastener which has been over-torqued will generally stretch and “neck down” causing an hourglass shape as pictured below. If your fastener looks like this, it has been over tightened.
Over-tightening the toilet tank bolts can cause cracks in the tank because of the brittle nature of porcelain.
A: No, you must remove the toilet to access and replace the flange.
An issue with your subfloor may require more than plastic shims or additional washers for a toilet that rocks. Still, if you have a wobbly toilet, we highly recommend removing the base and reinstalling the toilet to see whether the rocking has damaged anything under the toilet or started a leak underneath.
I start by hand tightening as much as I can, then I tighten a little on each side and check if the toilet moves. If it does then I tighten a bit more, check and repeat until there's no movement. You're trying to avoid bowl movement, so that it doesn't shift or fall over, not to hold the floor up by the toilet bolts.
Check the mounting bolts.
(You may need a small screwdriver for this task.) See whether you can jiggle either of the bolts underneath with your fingers. If a bolt is loose, simply use a socket wrench to tighten the nut until you feel some resistance.
If you see water pooling on the floor, leaking from the tank bolts, or around the base, it's time to replace the gasket and hardware. A worn tank-to-bowl gasket or loose bolts usually cause this leak. Cleaning chemicals, bacteria, hard water, city or well water, can all break down these parts over time.
If a bolt is overtightened, the bolt could fail. Overtightening a bolt can cause the threads to strip, the bolt head to break off, or the bolt shaft to shear, compromising the integrity of the bolted connection.
After you've tightened your fastener, use a torque audit wrench to slowly apply force in the tightening direction until you notice the first movement in the fastener. The reading is a reliable indication of the originally-applied torque. This is the most trusted measure of torque after tightening.
Increasing torque heightens the likelihood of mechanical problems throughout the car. Torque increases wear and can eventually break both the engine and the drivetrain. Torque is calculated by multiplying cylinder pressure and displacement.
As torque is applied to the bolt and the bolt rotates relative to the nut or to a threaded hole, the wedging action between the mating threads causes the bolt to stretch, compressing the clamped members.
Overtorque refers to the condition where the applied torque exceeds the designed limit of the transmission system. This can occur due to sudden load changes, start-up or shutdown operations, extreme wear of mechanical parts, or mechanical errors.
Toilets are made of vitreous china and if the tank bolts are over tightened, the china will crack and can cause a leak. The leak will come directly from the toilet tank and can be anything from a slow drip to a good flow of water.
Reasons to Caulk Around a Toilet
Moisture Prevention: Without caulk around the toilet base, external water can seep under the toilet, leading to floor and subfloor damage over time. This is especially important in bathrooms with wooden floors, as prolonged exposure to moisture can lead to rot and structural issues.