Exploding Previa Expansion Bottle

September 3, 2006

Has anyone any experience or thoughts on this?....I recently bought a uk spec '97 Previa with 83k in what seemed well looked after condition, inside and out. On it's first non local journey, about 70miles of dual carriageway/motorway, the expansion bottle exploded, putting a dent into and lifting the top edge of the bonnet. As it was from a dealer, luckily this was repaired by him, but while we initially thought the (inevitable) head gasket, pressure testing said it was ok. In theory, it was just a dodgy expansion bottle or cap. As the car was mainly bought for my my wife/kids to use, I'd like to get it sorted now, while still something I can get the car dealer to resolve (hopefully!).

Was it just bad luck or has anyone any other thoughts or had similar experience of this?

September 4, 2006

Has anyone any experience or thoughts on this?....I recently bought a uk spec '97 Previa with 83k in what seemed well looked after condition, inside and out. On it's first non local journey, about 70miles of dual carriageway/motorway, the expansion bottle exploded, putting a dent into and lifting the top edge of the bonnet. As it was from a dealer, luckily this was repaired by him, but while we initially thought the (inevitable) head gasket, pressure testing said it was ok. In theory, it was just a dodgy expansion bottle or cap. As the car was mainly bought for my my wife/kids to use, I'd like to get it sorted now, while still something I can get the car dealer to resolve (hopefully!).
Was it just bad luck or has anyone any other thoughts or had similar experience of this?

This tread would be better off in the family section but as its here, Its a common problem with the early previa's,even the new models can suffer from the same problem.. New unit is £140 inc

Hope this helps..

BoB

September 4, 2006

Has anyone any experience or thoughts on this?....I recently bought a uk spec '97 Previa with 83k in what seemed well looked after condition, inside and out. On it's first non local journey, about 70miles of dual carriageway/motorway, the expansion bottle exploded, putting a dent into and lifting the top edge of the bonnet. As it was from a dealer, luckily this was repaired by him, but while we initially thought the (inevitable) head gasket, pressure testing said it was ok. In theory, it was just a dodgy expansion bottle or cap. As the car was mainly bought for my my wife/kids to use, I'd like to get it sorted now, while still something I can get the car dealer to resolve (hopefully!).
Was it just bad luck or has anyone any other thoughts or had similar experience of this?
This tread would be better off in the family section but as its here, Its a common problem with the early previa's,even the new models can suffer from the same problem.. New unit is £140 inc
Hope this helps..
BoB
Thanks Bob. Hopefully sorted now then.
(I've moved it to Family now...sorry, my first go on this and not quite sure what happened to get onto Corolla!!