Okay.. so there are a few issues i'm having with my car... It is a 1995 Chevy Blazer

#1- There is a constant ticking noise that sounds like metal hitting against something. It sounds like it is coming from the driver side front wheel. I can hear it when I am accelerating and then if I am just coasting on the freeway, I can still hear it. It happens at 5 mph and at 60 mph. Basically, it's always there! If I am driving 30 mph, I hear it probably every couple of seconds.

#2- My check engine light is on. I have not gotten the code on it yet, though. The truck does NOT start up right away. At least not most of the time. Randomly it will start up right away, but for the most part I have to turn the key for a good 5-10 seconds. We eventually found out that carbon was stuck in the EGR-valve. So we got that out and placed a filter thing in it to prevent it from happening again. It started up right away and the check engine light went away for ONE DAY. Now, the light is back on and the truck does not start up right away. We took some more carbon out, but the problem keeps on reoccurring! My boyfriend thinks we need to flush the motor in order to get rid of all the carbon. Will this even help?

#3- The truck accelerates weird. When I am accelerating from 0-30mph, it has a hard time kicking into the next gear. If I let my foot off the gas, then the rpm's will drop down. Is there any cause for this?

#4- The wiring in my truck for my stereo is messed up! My truck's battery died a while back, so we had to jump it from one of those portable batteries. When the truck started up, the stereo started smoking.. a lot!! We pulled the stereo out and thought that was just faulty. We replaced it with a new one and that one shorted out as soon as it was connected! Any ideas?!

Any ideas? I hate having to throw more money into this thing without knowing what's going on! Recently, we have bought a new EGR-valve, O2 sensor, and spark plugs. I feel like this thing is a money hole!!! ANY SUGGESTIONS HELP!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!