Help - New Owner with a couple issues

Slow start with fully charged battery. I recently had an aftermarket stereo installed (no sub or amp), can leaving the face plate of the stereo on draw enough current from the battery to cause a slow start?

HVAC Dash Lights - Fan Direction and A/C button (Fan Speed, Temp and full car circulation are exempt from this) lights usually don't turn on until after driving for a few minutes. Could this be bad bulbs, wire connection or a fuse?

I bought the truck with 97k miles on it. Maintenance records are immaculate and the previous owner took care of it very well. I notice at low revolutions/idle, there is a subtle "ticking" sound. Is this normal engine character sound or could it be that a valve needs adjustment.

Any advice will help. Thanks all!

 

The ticking sound is normal. Some trucks are louder than others.
Doesn't seem to make a difference in year models whether it is louder or not.
They all tick to some degree.

 

My hvac back lights randomly turn off and on. Some times two of them are lit, some times one and sometimes all of them work. Been like this for a long time. Ticking at idle is normal, noisy injectors. Battery is probably weak.

 

TnShooter, scottalot, and offgrid taco:

Thanks for the replies. The HVAC lights aren't a huge concern, might just try replacing the bulbs and see what's up. I'll give my battery a legitimate load test tonight.

 

I would thoroughly clean the battery posts and terminal lugs and ground connections to ensure good low resistance connections. I would also test the charging system voltage and ripple.