Kohler Forte Faucet Troubleshooting & Repair Guide

If you own a Kohler Forte Kitchen Faucet and you are experiencing some problems with it, you will need to do something plumbers call “troubleshooting”. This is a process of looking at each functioning part and figuring out what is wrong. This Kohler Forte Kitchen Faucet Troubleshooting & Repair Guide will help you determine what is wrong with your faucet and also guide you through the repair process. The are a couple of styles of the Kohler Forte faucet including the Kohler Forte K-10215-4 Polished Chrome Single Control Lavatory Faucet, Kohler Forte Pull Out Kitchen Faucet in Chrome and of course the most popular Kohler Forte 2 Handle Lever Widespread Lavatory Faucet that comes in polished chrome.

You will need a few basic hand tools to work on the Kohler faucet. You will need a set of Allan keys, a pair of small channel locks, a pair of needle nose pliers, a basin wrench, an open end crescent wrench and some pipe dope and some faucet cartridge lube and a new faucet cartridge if you are planing to change that out. Depending on what is exactly wrong with the Kohler faucet you have will determine how long it takes to fix the faucet but usually you will want to plan out an hour or two to work on the faucet.

How To Shut The Faucets Water Supply

The first thing you will need to always do before working on your Kohler Forte faucet or any faucet for that matter is to turn off the water supply. You can do so in one of two ways. You can shut the water supply valves that are located under your faucet or you can shut the water main. Be aware if you do shut your water main, you will have no water in the entire house or building if you do so. You might be thinking; “Why would I need to shut my water main to repair a faucet”, and the answer is because sometimes the faucet shut off valves are old and won’t completely close. In these rare cases you will need to shut down the water main.

How To Remove & Replace The Faucet From The Sink

Before you can remove or replace your Kohler Forte kitchen or bathroom faucet you will have to had shut the water off like we explained above. Failure to shut the water off could cause you to have a huge mess of water on your hands.

Now that you have shut the water down there are a few things you will need to do before you are going to be able to remove the faucet from the sink. You are going to have to disconnect the “speedy supplies” which are the small water lines that are connected to the water supply valve and also to the bottom of the faucet. You will want to use an open end crescent wrench to loosen the nuts on the supply valves. You will want to turn them to the left which is counter clockwise to remove them. Once you have removed the lower nuts that are connected to the valve, you will now want to use your basin wrench and loosen the basin nuts. You will need to lay down under the sink and look up to see the basin nuts. They are the nuts that are attaching the water supply lines ( speedy supplies ) to the actual faucet.

Once you have the water supplies removed from the faucet, you will now want to loosen the faucet hold down nuts that hold the faucet onto the sink. You can use either your crescent wrench or a small pair of channel lock pliers. Once you loosen and remove the hold down nuts you will be able to pull the faucet out from the sink.

Side Note: Remember some models of the Forte faucet are made with polished chrome and can scratch easily. When working on your faucet, always be sure to work with the tools slowly so you do not wind up damaging the faucet.

Installing The New Kohler Forte Faucet

If you are looking to install a new Kohler kitchen faucet and you already have one in place then just look up first and learn how to remove your old faucet.Once you have removed your old faucet you can go ahead and start to install the new faucet. As a side note, you should always also replace the water supply lines with new ones when your are installing a new faucet. If after reading this paragraph and then one above, you still have questions about removing or replacing a new faucet, please feel free to post them below in the comments area.

Seat & Washer Faucets Vs Cartridge Faucets

Before we move on to the next section and help you repair your cartridge inside of your Forte faucet there is something we would like to explain to you. In the older days many faucets used something called a “seat and washer” to stop the water from flowing when you turn the faucet off. But with the new modern technology we have in the plumbing world today, most faucets use something called a “faucet cartridge”.

The nice thing about a faucet cartridge is that its easier to repair the faucet then dealing with washers and seats, In fact washer and seat faucets will be harder to fix and trying to locate the parts these days is even tough. So please note that your Kohler Forte faucet does not use a seat and washer, but in fact it does use a cartridge that can be replaced in under 30 minutes with a few basic hand tools.

How To Remove & Replace The Faucet Cartridge

Special Note: You need to shut the water supply off to the faucet, before you can make this type of repair.

The first thing you will need to do before you can change out the cartridge on your Kohler faucet is to remove the handle. You can do so by popping out the little plug that is on the back side of the faucet handle. Once you do so you will want to take an Allan key and stick it into the hole. You will now want to turn the Allan key to the left which is counter clockwise and remove the set screw. Once the set screw is removed you will be able to pull off the faucets handle.

Now that you have the handle removed from the faucet you will want to remove the mounting nut that will be visible to you now. You can remove the mounting nut with a pair of channel lock pliers. Once you have removed the nut you will want to pull the cartridge out of the faucet body. You can use a pair of channel locks or a small pair of channel lock pliers to do so. If you are pulling really hard and cannot get the cartridge out you may have calcium or mineral deposits that are causing the faucet cartridge to be “locked” into the faucet body.

Removing The Forte Cartridge That Is “stuck” in the cartridge body?

The reason faucet cartridges will get stuck inside of the faucet body is because of a calcium or mineral buildup. To solve this problem you will want to spray or soak a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water for at least 30 minutes or so to allow the calcium or minerals to dissolve so you can remove the cartridge with ease.

Installing The New Forte Cartridge

Once you have removed the old cartridge you will want to remove the new one from the package. But before you install it you will want to grease the faucet cartridge. Failure to grease the Kohler Forte faucet cartridge while installing can and most likely will cause the new cartridge to fail which means you will most likely wind up changing it out again soon.

Now that you have the new cartridge installed you will want to put the faucet back together in the reverse order that you took it apart. After you have the faucet all back together, you will want to turn on the water supply and test out the faucet for leaks. You can do so by letting the faucet run for a few minutes on hot and also on cold. Then you will want to turn the faucet on and off a few times to make sure everything is okay.

Fixing It Myself Vs Paying The Plumber

One of the most popular questions asked is; “how much will it cost me to have my faucet repaired?” And the answer to that question is going to vary depending on who you call to fix the faucet, or if you do it yourself. The Kohler Forte faucet costs between $160 – $220 depending on where you buy it, so you will need to take that in mind before you dial the phone to call the plumber. You may want to realize that the plumbers hourly rate is around $125 an hour and then off course you will have to pay for parts as well. So if you are kinda handy and feel you can repair the faucet yourself you could potentially save a lot of money. But remember, if you are not handy, paying the plumber to fix the faucet for you may be the best bet.