How to fix a Moen diverter valve.
Things wear out and that even goes for Moen diverter valves. Moen seems to make some quality stuff so I can't fault this valve for going out after several decades of reliable service. It was just it's time. The diverter valve switches water between the tub faucet and the shower sprayer either by pushing in or pulling out. Normally it will pop out, but as they get older they will need to be pulled out. This one is toast so it needs to be replaced. The first step is to find out what type of valve you have. You may be able to find a model number stamped on the valve somewhere or just contact Moen. In this case the valve is a Moen PN 1198 available at Amazon for around $25 bucks which is a better price than I found around here - plus they ship next day for $4 with Prime.
To get to the valve you need to remove a cap on the knob, then the screw under the cap and then the knob itself. Then remove 2 philips screws (better to use a cordless screwdriver since they are loooong). After that the escutcheon plate can be removed and you will see the horror show that exists behind it. Hopefully yours will be pretty, but that is not likely.
To get to the valve you need to remove a cap on the knob, then the screw under the cap and then the knob itself. Then remove 2 philips screws (better to use a cordless screwdriver since they are loooong). After that the escutcheon plate can be removed and you will see the horror show that exists behind it. Hopefully yours will be pretty, but that is not likely.
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The diverter valve is at the bottom of course and will probably take some effort to remove. I had to brute force it so I used a couple vice-grips with one to lock onto the nut and the other to lock onto the vice-grips which is locked onto the nut. Since a picture is worth a thousand words I will just shut up and say look at the pic -->
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Hopefully you now have the suck'a off and can get down to replacing it. Make sure you remove any parts still in there - like you can see on the left - that is a part which needs to be pulled out with long nose pliers. It should look like the pic in the right when you are done.
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This is what you should end up with when you have all the old parts out. You may want to use the vice grips again together to torque it back down, but don't go crazy or you may be calling a real plumber. I had to use a small amount of teflon tape to seal a leak, which is a good reason to test everything before buttoning it back up. I also slipped a paper towel under it and left it there for a few hours to make sure there were no slow leaks. The rest is pretty self explanatory so I'll end this with... good luck!
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