old faucet leak

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namsilat

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There is a leak of the left faucet, after studing various articles and videos on internet, it appears that I need to replace the cartdrige. It took me huge amount of effort just to remove the handle, as you can see from the photo there's another component there (?bell) that I cannot even remove. Now I am not sure what to do next or what to remove, so any help is greatly appreciated.
 

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I'd try to unscrew the chrome "housing" around the cartridge. If it won't unscrew, it's probably due to (technical term) Gluuck built up from dried minerals. If it won't come, pour some vinegar or CLR in from the top, and let it sit for half a day, then try to unscrew it. Still no joy? Last: Wrap a small towel around it, to protect the finish, and CAREFULLY use pipe wrench to turn it.
Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the reply. Just to make sure, that little white thing in the center is the cartdridge that I need to get to to replace?
 
That's the very top of the cartridge; cartridge itself good bit larger, and may be held in place with something like a metal or nylon nut, ring, ?? Pretty hard to see from here :).
Tell us the outcome .... next year.
 
actually the "wrinkle" marks on that bell-shaped chrome thing is from the CLR, which makes me nervous about the material, whatever it is it's not pure metal. The whole setup is nothing like what I learned from the videos, I am hesitant to force anything in fear of breaking the whole thing. I have so far only used my fingers on the chrome with zero success.
 
Show us the other side that hopefully has the handle still on. The bell should unscrew. How did you take the top of the handle off? It looks to me like it's supposed to be one piece and you remove the whole thing by unscrewing the bell housing.
 
It took some effort but the handle came off ok. Here what the whole thing looks like
 

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That piece should just wiggle off, or maybe unscrew.
You can try putting a strap wrench on it, to get it free.
A pliers such as a channellocks will tear it up, but might be needed if minerals ran through there for a long time.
Even with a towel or duct tape for a cushion, a pliers will often chew up the finish with bite marks.
Moen might sell that piece, but it looks pretty old, and low end quality.
Maybe time to just change the faucet, it is pretty basic anyway.
A new years gift to yourself.
 
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Yeah you’re probably going to need a new handle, I doubt that one’s going to go back together. The bell escutcheon unscrews and the whole handle comes off. The lever is not supposed to come off. The cartridge is a Moen 1224.
 
I feel like my worst fear is coming true. I actually had no trouble with the handle, it's a separate piece that goes back easily. I managed to start the process of unscrewing the bell, it was extremely difficult to get it moving in the first place, I thought once it's moved, the unscrewing process will become smoother, well that's not the case at all. It took me the whole hour just to unscrew that much, the more I unscrew the bell upwards, the more difficult it becomes, to the point it's actually stuck (again). As you can see from the pictures, this thing is not metal at all, there's a layer of metalic skin, but underlying that appears to be plastic. My fear now is if I force unscrew this, the whole bell would just crack and reach point of no return, so now I am stuck trying to decide to continue unscrewing, or just screw it back. More help please!
 

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BTW is there a replacement part for that bell thing with handle? If so then I don't have to worry about damaging it in the process of unscrewing it, I just put new bell part and new cartdridge back afterwards.
 
After all of the frustration you have been experiencing, I would have changed the faucet by now.
 
I would have got someone to do the replacement if not for Covid. For now I am trying to push DIY as far as I can.
 
^^^ Agree.... I don't like to be part of the dispose-of-it culture, but, sometimes things are just not worth the time and effort to repair. Toss the old faucet and install a new one. That will take less time than you've already invested.
 
Do me this one favor and please tell me the exact name of that bell-shaped part between base escutcheon and handle?
 

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