When I got to work this morning I noticed smoke from underhood so I popped the hood and took a glance, coolant is dripping from the very bottom "nipple" of the AST, either where it attaches to the mounting bracket or is there supposed to be a line plugged in there?

Has a line off the side and one on the very bottom connected currently... they break this easily?

 

stupid filler neck nipple snapped off

gay!

 

The bottom "nipple" is just a pin to locate the AST in the rubber grommet in the bracket.

The stock AST's have a well-deserved reputation for breaking (splitting) along the horizontal seam. There are aluminum aftermarket substitutes available (RX7 Store, etc.).

Search for AST - there are lots of threads.

EDIT: Yours found another way to break...

 

Well, I removed the tank and line in the parking lot at work, used epoxy effectively bonding the hose to what was left of the nipple, let sit outside for 2 hours, reinstalled and fired it up... tstat wasn't open so it thought it was low on coolant BUZZZZZZZZZZZ!@# so i turned it back off and filled up the AST and fill locations and fired it back up

let it get warm, didn't leak... i think i'm good to get home (lost 1/2 gallon while it sat there, thank god it happened just as i parked!)

Does anyone know where I can get an aftermarket unit that doesn't cost $150?

 

Aluminum AST is a must-have for every FD. It's a very important reliability mod. Make sure you do it now before later.

 

I will but can I get one for cheaper than $150?

 

Yea...I can get you one for $149

 

i have a used pettit one i could sell you....pm me if interested.

 

you bought a perfectly running FD for under 5k and your worrying about finding a AST for under 150 dollars. hm, I guess I should have worried about spending that thousand and some odd dollars on suspension after i spent 13k on my FD.

 

yea yer not getting the point here, i'm doing the right things but with budget in mind... this is my "beater" if you will

 

Doing the right things may require a budget you don't have in mind, and when it does, it'll mean your "beater" won't run.

I'll pay you $7k for your car, you can make a profit and I'll take care of your "beater", and you can enjoy your box, I mean WRX, otherwise..

 

7k times 2, sure