Sewage smell when flushing all of a sudden

[jessb_55]

So starting about a month ago I started noticing that when flushing my upstairs toilet I'll get a sewage smell coming from the bowl area. From what I read it sounds like this could be a few things...

1) bad wax seal....which I don't think would apply to me for several reasons because my toilet doesn't use a wax ring as it uses a Fernco wax free toilet seal, the toilet doesn't rock and also if the seal was bad wouldn't you have a sewage smell consistently and not just when you flush?

2) a clog somewhere? I've had no issues with the toilet flushing, nor the sink nor the tub that I believe all use the same stack. Also not gurgling sounds either.

3) So I'm starting to wonder if maybe the toilet has a crack somewhere? I haven't noticed any water on the floor or on the ceiling in the bathroom below.

The toilet is atleast 20 years old but I am on a tight budget and don't just want to replace it just to replace it but I'm starting to wonder if that should be my next step.

Otherwise what other troubleshooting or things I can do in the mean time to try to figure this out?

Thanks in advance

 

[Geofd]

I would just replace the wax ring,maybe your right but for a couple of bucks you could rule that out, that way you can get a look at your flanges condition also

 

[jessb_55]

Hi Geofd,
Thanks, it's just as a single female resetting a toilet is kind of hard but maybe I'll give it a try.