Manarius

Ummm...driveshaft hitting something? Did you rev it up in neutral to guarantee it was coming from the engine bay?

Mmph. I never put it in first without the manual button in. Manual mode is such a waste anyways.

Well, it won't shift until it bounces off the rev limiter a few times. Either way, the car will act like a manual car when in manual mode.

Any particular reason you need manual mode? Simple way to check if it works: Put car in first and press in manual button. Car will hold 1st no matter how you accelerate. If it shifts, it's not in manual mode. If it is, during deceleration, you will notice that the car catches like it's a manual car riding in first without the clutch in.

Any EJ series transmission will bolt up if you get a matching rear differential.

No no no. The car is powered by ordinary gasoline(See movie number 3). The fusion reactor powers the flux capacitor, which makes time travel possible (see movie 1). Yes, I see the resemblence. Remember, the Delorean came out first, and came out of America :-p

FWD mode is for maintenance, not for daily driving! You'll burn the solenoid that way.

I'm going with rear crank seal as well. Oil pan gaskets rarely fail.

Well, I think that switching to Syn won't hurt you. However, it may still leak..and most likely it'll be from the back or front crank seal. I'd stick with Dino Oil. Not worth the extra cost imo.