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Interestingly, washers on hot water parts tend to wear out much faster than washers involved with the cold water portions of a faucet. For this reason, it makes sense to try to rule out leaks on the hot water side of a faucet assembly before moving on to the cold water side.

You should always close off the drain section of your sink or tub before beginning to work so that none of the small parts fall into the drain. These can be very difficult to recover. It's better to take precautions against such an event.

1. Turn off the main water supply to the sink or tub that you will be working on. This detail cannot be stressed enough. The shut off valve for a faucet will be located near the faucet and may be found within a floor cabinet. Double check that the water is turned off by opening the faucet. There should be no water coming out once the water already in the pipes has come out.
2. The packing nut is the portion located below or inside the faucet handles. Turn the packing nut counter-clockwise to loosen the nut. Grab the faucet handle and pull the entire valve unit loose by twisting and turning until it comes free.
3. While holding the valve unit in your hand, locate the old washer and remove the screw that is holding the washer in place. This will more than likely be located on the bottom of the valve unit itself.
4. If the old washer appears to be worn, yet of the correct size, then visually match up the washer to find the appropriate size of new washer. Then replace the screw. If a washer is too small or too large, you will usually be able to tell just by looking. If you believe this to be the cause of the leak, try out different sized washers, but be sure to try out the configuration before reassembling the faucet.
5. Put the valve unit back inside the faucet housing. Be sure to position the faucet handle where you want it to go before tightening.
6. Tighten the packing nut. Now all that remains is to test for leaks. Turn the water supply back on and see if any water leaks.

If you still see water leaking, this may be due to incorrect washer size. Try replacing the faulty washer with a washer of a different size.

Be sure to pay attention to the order in which parts are removed as your disassembling your leaky Delta faucet. This can be the single, easiest way to make sure that you are reassembling the faucet correctly once the necessary repairs have been made. When it's time to reassemble the faucet, simply perform each operation in reverse order from the way it as performed during disassembly.