Water Coming out of Shower Head, but not Bath Faucet

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Dandyman123

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I am new here and new to DIY plumbing repair. I was trying to replace a leaky shower and hot water faucet. It's a three piece Price Pfister set (Hot, Diverter, and Cold handles). I replaced the stems in the hot faucet and in the diverter and it seemed to solve the leaks. Now, when the hot or cold water are on, and the diverter is opened up, the water goes to the shower head like it is supposed to. But when the diverter is in the off position, the water does not come out of the bath faucet at all (nor does it go to the shower head). It's as if the hot or cold are not even on, but they are on. I don't see it leaking out anywhere behind the wall. Does anyone know why the water would not be coming out of the tub faucet?
 
I am new here and new to DIY plumbing repair. I was trying to replace a leaky shower and hot water faucet. It's a three piece Price Pfister set (Hot, Diverter, and Cold handles). I replaced the stems in the hot faucet and in the diverter and it seemed to solve the leaks. Now, when the hot or cold water are on, and the diverter is opened up, the water goes to the shower head like it is supposed to. But when the diverter is in the off position, the water does not come out of the bath faucet at all (nor does it go to the shower head). It's as if the hot or cold are not even on, but they are on. I don't see it leaking out anywhere behind the wall. Does anyone know why the water would not be coming out of the tub faucet?
Remove the diverter and see if something is stuck in the body, if you still have the old one compare them and make sure they are the same,yo could also turn the water on and flush the diverter body
 
There is a secret white plastic washer that the three valve PP tub/shower center diverter valve needs.
Yours has effaced away so you don't know what to look for. Call any plumbing wholesaler and ask for the washer. 1592720351000.png
 
You probably used a regular stem instead of a diverter stem when you swapped them out
 
There is a secret white plastic washer that the three valve PP tub/shower center diverter valve needs.
Yours has effaced away so you don't know what to look for. Call any plumbing wholesaler and ask for the washer. View attachment 24573

The old diverter came out with the white washer still on it (the one shown laying separately in your pic). But come to think of it, the old diverter did not have the black diverter and screw on the end when I took it out. It is probably still stuck in there. I'll need to look later.

Also, when I put in new stems, I did not replace the seats. I think I will put in new seats too, but are all Pfister seats universal across Pfister stems? I had to go to a specialty plumbing supply store to find the stems, but they are closed today. If I go to Home Depot or Lowes would I be able to get whatever Pfister seat they have, or will my stems only fit a specific Pfister seat part number?
 
You really do not need seats except in the middle where you may have been metal to metal.
You need a special seat tool to remove seats (I whave one to sell along with those white diverter washers!!!, I'm semi-retired and I insist on pulling out all old faucets, so won't be needing anymore.Not worth the cost of shipping, in sad reality)
You may use a flashlight and finger to see the condition of the seat.
There are two white washers. the big one and one on the stem itself.
 
Well that did not work. I removed the old washers out of there and the screw that was in stuck back in there at and angle. When I put in the new stem, it does not screw in as far as the old one did. It stops a couple threads short even though they are exactly the same. I tried putting the old one back in, with new washers and it fits good but still leaks.

i have a question about the washers at the end of the stem. I posted two pics of the new stem. it came with two white washers at the very end, as shown in the 1st pic. This is with the stem in the fully closed position. If you turn the stem to open it up, the thinner washer just hangs loose as it is not supported by the screw. Do I have the washers on wrong? Is that thinner washer not supposed to be on there?
 

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1. I am not familiar with that particular stem. It is a model I have never seen.
2. In the classic PPfister diverter, there is indeed that type of loose floating washer. That is the one I call secret, because often, it has deteriorated and broken away so inexperienced person wouldn't even know what is missing.
 
Seems like after the 1st time you open the diverter, that “secret” washer would no longer be centered with the other washer. Wouldn’t that be a problem?
 
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Also, I still can’t figure out why the new stem does not completely screw in all the way like the old stem does. The new stem stops about 1/4 to 1/8 before the off-white washer (the one at the center of the stem) flush against the pipe.
 
Time to cut your losses, just remove the POS old faucet, install a nice new pressure balanced modern faucet.

No more scalding and freezing!
 

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