I bought a house and the home inspector missed this about the spare bathtub: when you turn on the cold water, water leaks out of the stem of the hot water faucet (and vice versa). I figure the o rings need replacement (or maybe packing). I finally got the faucet handles removed (screws were seized) and I see this odd shaped nut. It seems to be attached to the valve–if I try to unscrew it, the water comes on. The plastic chromed shroud prevents me from seeing anything. So, do I simply turn off the water supply, and unscrew this all the way? In other words, will it remove the valve stem? Or will the valve "bottom out" and then I can remove this nut?
It's a three handle tub fixture from Kohler, maybe the original one (house built around 1965). I'm skittish because both bathrooms share the same pipe so if something goes wrong, I lose the ability to shower.
UPDATE: I found the part number of that piece: it's a Kohler 41240-CP Insert Sub-Assembly. Amazon has it (with picture): Kohler 41240. The only difference is that has a washer under the nut (mine lacks it). Someone on Amazon actually asked how to remove it and the answer was to use a faucet puller. Is this true? The hole is a 1/2 inch deeper than the rod on my faucet puller and that flimsy chromed plastic couldn't take much stress. I did manage to find installation instructions for a Kohler Flair 3 handle faucet and the diagrams look like my faucet. I will need to pull that insert off. I'll try to extend my faucet puller with a nail and duct tape. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.
Thanks for looking.
Best Answer
I called Kohler support. They told me "it just pulls off". I was disappointed with that--nothing after 5 years "just pulls off".
I ended up tapping the hole. It's just the right size for a 1/4-20 tap. I then used a bolt to pull the inserts off--just screw the bolt in until it hits the valve stem and it pulls it off. I'm enclosing a picture of the inside of that insert so others can see what this is.