The hinge part of the toilet seat installed alright---but once the seat was connected to the tank, i tried to open the lid and it just fell off---the quiet close "dowels" for lack of a better word--that hold the seat and the lid to the hinged area pushed into the cylinder and the lid and seat are disconnected---how do i fix this----really agravating!

Hi, Please don't take this the wrong way but did you install the hinges the right way? I fit bathroom suites for a living and have done this a few times wrong by putting the left hinge on the right side and vice verser. Sometimes the instructions are not very clear in explaining which side is left on the seat, as a result even though the toilet seat is closed, the springs are set backwards and are in fact in the up position. Double check the instructions once more, and just have a look on the hinges and seat because sometimes they have a small 'L' sticker on the hinge and an 'L' sticker on the seat and lid to correspond which hinge goes on which side. Hope this is of help to you.