Hey guys

About a month ago or more I was doing some donuts and general horsing around in my 97 4 door Sidekick in a field. Ever since then it hasn't quite sounded the same. I have been driving it since then and the sound hasn't really changed for the better or for the worse. The noise itself it VERY hard to describe...the only words I can think of are "rough and unrefined" and it seems to be coming from the transmission. I have a 5 speed standard transmission in my Zuk. I just changed the oil in the tranny and the transfer case this week and it still sounds the same. I also topped up my engine oil level since with 245,000 km's it burns a little oil on startup. I have no idea what the cause of this sound could be. Any help?

Also another sound related issue, when I barely have my foot on the gas my engine makes a ticking sound. If I take my foot off the gas or if I put my foot into it some more it goes away immediately. The Zuk has been doing this since I bought it in October.

PS, it is a 16 valve

Come on, at least suggest something.

Rough and unrefined noise coming from the trans is not telling us much...My guess is the front bearing on the transmission. But it could be a ujoint noise also. Give the drive line a good shake and rule that out. Does the noise go away if the clutch is in ?This would indicate bad front trans bearing. Is the noise louder when accelerating thru 1,2,3 gear.  Does it go away at hwy speed... we need more info to offer help

Small noises usually go a long way before they become big problems. I once had a loud roaring coming from the rear of my first Samy, I thought it was the rear diff badly worn but many miles down the road I finally figured out that it was a bad wheel bearing. I fixed the bearing and the noise disappeared.I was so sure it was the diff that I didn't even check the wheel bearings untill I put new tires on rig.

yep i have a ticking sound and its exactly the same i hear it in first gear when im bearly moving with just a hair of throttle. i have a 16 valve tracker and thats what i think it is the valves that are supposed to be adjusted every 15000 miles were never adjusted. i have currently 173000 miles on mine

Does your kick have power steering? I burned up the Goblin's power steering pump doing donuts in the mud... it made a kinda rough noise too...

Yeah, it has power steering. I solved this problem months ago by changing the transmission oil. It wasn't pretty. My theory is that it was already low, then it burned up a bearing doing donuts in the field. There were metal shavings in the oil so I doubt the previous owner ever had it serviced. It is working fine now though, and doesn't sound half as bad either.