The problem is, the heads of the screws holding the trip lever drain to the tub are totally corroded away. My bathtub drain trip lever mechanism has failed, and my bathtub won't drain. In your case, the diverter needs to be replaced. Remove the two screw on the trip lever cover, and have a look inside. Before you use a plunger, make sure you remove the trip lever and push a wet piece of cloth in the trip lever opening to create more suction. When a tub won’t hold water, the two potential causes are easily repaired. The trip lever is the lever that makes the tub drain go up and down. The stopper can then be cleaned, or replaced with a new one. The assemblies are adjustable to fit a wide range of tubs. Lift and Turn Stoppers and Roller Ball stoppers are very simple to replace; just unscrew counter-clockwise until the stopper is removed from the drain. How to Replace a Bathtub Stopper. The lever seems to be stuck in the down position. Steps for fixing a tub that won’t hold water: Bathtub drains consist of a visible trip lever, a plunger that seats in the drain to stop water, and two pieces of threaded rod which connect the lever and plunger. Since you have a plunger style, the linkage bars have likely dropped down out of view. Prevention Go fishing. When you flip the overflow lever up, it pushes the rod down on the stopper’s rocker arm, which raises the stopper. I actually just replaced this in my bathtub as it was getting stuck and not draining well. The tub spout you have with the knob on the end of it is a shower diverter. A bathtub pop-up is a two-part mechanism: first, the stopper, which has a rocker arm that extends back toward the drain, and second, the overflow assembly, a lever that lifts or lowers a rod with a spring-like end. The stopper will not work and the trip lever will not go up. Once the screws are removed, yank up on the trip lever and the whole mechanism will come out. What's the best way to get the trip level drain cover off? The knob diverts water away from the tub spout and up to the shower head. Removing the drain shoe doesn't show any clogs. The tub portion doesn't get used much, but over time, the drain has slowed down significantly. Step 2 Remove the Trip, and Look for Debris. Push up and down with the plunger and it should be able to clear the obstruction quite easily. Straighten out a wire hanger; or some excess solid strand electrical wire, and put a small hook in one end. These little stoppers are quite inexpensive to purchase from Amazon or any home improvement store, costing in the region of $20. You'll have to reach down the hole, and pull the assembly back up. 11 months ago. Most people only use plungers on toilets but they can work wonders on clogged bathtub drains too. Just rubbing the head with my finger took off a bunch of rust and the heads are now stripped. 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