[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

Your car will handle differently with a broken sway bar end link, so yeah, you should be careful to avoid any high speed maneuvers. Unfortunately, the other folks on the road may not be as cautious and could cause you to need to make such an abrupt maneuver. The only real mechanical damage that I could see possibly being caused by a broken end link is that it could possibly rip the CV boot. If that happens, you'll be replacing a half shaft along with the end links.

The general consensus on flushing transmissions is unless you know the complete history of the vehicle and the fluid was changed very regularly. avoid a flush. The concern usually relates to the potential for static contaminants to get dislodged from the hoses and cooler lines during a flush and cause damage as they begin to circulate again. The folks that generally disagree with this concern point out that if you "flush" the system with normal pressures, the risk of breaking contaminants free is minimal. My recommendation would be to change the transmission fluid and filter by dropping the transmission pan, then continue to change the fluid and filter on a regular interval.

As for leaking gaskets, the answer to how important it is to fix them will depend a bit on which gaskets you are referring to. If the oil pan gasket is leaking, there is an environmental concern, but if the leak is so little that the car is not leaving spots, then it's probably not worth the expense to fix, or the "leak" is actually just due to oil dribbling to the pan ledge when the oil filter is replaced. If a valve cover gasket is leaking, there is still an environmental concern, but additionally there is a fire concern as the oil may be leaking on the the hot exhaust manifold and burning off, explaining why you don't see spots. Obviously burning oil is not a good thing. If the gasket that's leaking is a manifold gasket, again there is the possibility for a fire, as well as decreased fuel economy and damage to the catalytic converters due to a misfire from the leak. If the leaking gasket is the head gasket, then you could be doing significant damage to the catalytic converter, cooling system, and/or engine bearings by continuing to drive the car.

-Rod