Continuing yesterday’s Let’s Fix the Shower project…

Remember in the Metallica video for “One” when they finally realize the blind/mute/deaf quadriplegic has been nodding his head in Morse Code for weeks, saying, Kill me… kill me… kill me…?

The current trouble is the shower diverter, or the middle knob in our 3-handle setup. It’s supposed to send the water entirely out the tub spout, or entirely out the shower head. The typical problem is water leaking out the spout when you’re using the shower head. In my case, it’s the opposite: when the spout is set to on (to fill the bathtub), water starts coming out the shower head, too.

I’ve tried three different replacement washers, removed and scoured and greased the entire diverter stem, and put it all back together several different ways based on several different theories. Bupkis. The guy at the Pfeil Hardware (who clearly knew what he was talking about, as opposed to the well-meaning 21-year-old Lowes guy) says he’ll order a full replacement diverter since nobody carries this particular model anymore, and if that doesn’t work I’m going to try hitting the tile wall with the center of my forehead until I’m too stupefied to care about plumbing anymore.

Bonus! After shutting off the water supply during my efforts, some sediment got into the toilet’s fill valve and prevented it from stopping, so I got to take that apart, too, in order to rinse the sediment out. At least that worked.

UPDATE: Solution found! Read the surprising conclusion.