Hello! I haven't been on this forum in years, I sold my G37 coupe after an accident and bought a '15 WRX, and my buddy bought a new WRX as well after seeing mine and gifted me his G coupe, because it was leaking ATF and smoking and slipping real bad.

His shady mechanic told him he needs a new transmission because it was slipping and that it would cost $4 grand, so he was going to donate it to charity or give it to me.. I told him I wanted to at least try to fix it first before getting rid of it.

It's a great car with 125k miles, but it has rust issues on the roof, and under the car, since he lives on the beach but it's bone stock and he never abused it. He redid the whole front end of the car (suspension) and it looks like the intake manifold had a gasket job done and he paid for some other gaskets to be done as well in the engine but doesn't recall which ones were done. It also has an SRS slip light and throwing a camshaft sensor bank2 code (and it has trouble starting, extended 2-3 second cranks, but runs like new.) There is a bit of a gas smell from the exhaust - like it's running rich.. maybe needs a new o2 sensor?

First thing I did was add ATF and lucus stop leak and trans-x to seal any pinholes in the transmission and it solved ALL the slipping problems. Then I started to sand/detail the headlamps, sand the rust off the roof (needs a vinyl wrap job to cover it up) compound the paint, clean the leather interior and stains and slowly the car started looking great again.

But when it ran, it still smoked and leaked ATF.

I went to my trusty Midas mechanic to get an estimate on the job and he found the trans cooler pipe had a rust hole that was dripping - the estimate was $500!!! for a rusty pipe, labor, shop fees, etc!!! I wasn't prepared to spend that so I took a fuel line and hose clamp and fixed it myself and it worked, but the whole pipe is covered in rust, so it was only a matter of time...I figured if i'm going to keep this car, I would need to do all the work myself, or find some friends in the NMB area who can help me work on it (for a fee of course.) this is my first venture into DIY on a car project.

One month later, another ATF leak broke open but this time it was somewhere on the front. I haven't had a chance to find where the leak was coming from, but it looks like it's either the coolant pipe again broke open somewhere else, or the trans cooler part of the radiator is shot. The car is leaking ATF again and slipping again. I added more ATF for now until I can fix it but it's leaking pretty bad.

So that's my story!!! Anyone work on these cars in Miami/Broward that is cheap and trustworthy? Any DIY for the transcoolant lines? What is the part number of the transcoolant lines? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

If the car keeps having rust related issues and leaks I will have to get rid of it . Anything to watch out for on these cars at 10+ years and 125+ miles? I hear the engine/transmission lasts for 200-250k. What should I replace at this mileage (pumps, sensors, etc)


PIC



THANKS!!!

 

I would be interested in buying it from you if you want to sell it.