2000 Chevy Cavalier Engine Issues

I’m a College student and I live in the Bahamas. I got my car from my brother about 4 months ago and it’s a Chevy Cavalier 2000 4Cyl 2.2L with a little over 85,000 mileage. The car was running fine when I got it and was made sure the car had all the fluids it needed. The only issues I noticed when I got it was a slight sharp noise coming from the left side passenger’s side and slight pulling towards the left. I was told they were minor so I don’t have to rush to get them fix right now.

I recently had a flat badly warp tire issue a few weeks ago which had my car shaking each time it moved an inch. However, after I got that replace with another used tired now I notice all these other issues start happening.

1. I notice the Acceleration performance has greatly decreased because now I have to hit more RPMs than usual to accelerate to above 35mph. It only took 1.5-2 RPMs to get to 0 to 25mph in a short time but now it takes about 2.5 to 3 RPMs to get pass 25mph for more than 5mins. The car seems to idle roughly when coming to a complete stop as well.
2. The Steering Wheel has now stiffing up more than it usually was. If I let the car sit for a while and then come back to it, the steering wheel will go back to normal but minutes into it, it will start becoming stiff again.
3. I can feel the car surging and hesitating only when I’m slowing down or speeding up between 0-25mph and it mostly happens when turning corners.
4. The car has turned off on me a few times when I’m driving under 25mph and twice before when reversing after locking the steering wheel.
5. Even thought seems to run fairly ok when I’m driving over 25mph, the engine still feels like it’s running hard.
6. I’m hearing a clicking noise coming from the area where my tire was replaced. I thinking I just need to replace the tire.

I’ve had the major fluids checked out and they’re all full; the Engine Oil, the Coolant, the Transmission Fluid, the Brake Fluid and the Power Steering Fluid. One thing I didn’t get check was the Differential Fluid because I’m not sure where to look in my car.

When I got home today, I did notice a hose leaking out what looks like and smells like rusty water which was weird to me because I only put coolant in my car. I had no clue what it was connected to but in the morning I will take a picture of it to show you.

From what I’ve read up on this site so far, I should get the following checked; oxygen sensor, the Mass Air Flow Senor, Transmission. I want to learn more about what’s going on with my car so I don’t get rip off because I’m young, but I’m not sure where to look or where to start.