pdr

I resurrected a 95 es300 with 240k miles. After numerous short trips around town I finally took it for a longer shakedown run, of about 130 miles in the TX heat yesterday. My confidence in the car went up considerably afterward, but I have some things I want to sort out.

Only codes I get are Knock sensor ones.

1. The speedo and tach work fine but not always, it sometimes takes a while but I'll look down and they're working when they weren't a minute before. Seems like an electrical connection but where? Any suggestions where to start? Sometimes one works but not the other.

The needles on the speedo and tach don't lite up at all but that's a different issue.

2. There seems to be an issue with steady state driving, such as constant 65mph highway speeds. Sometimes the revs will go up like it's shifted to neutral, or it is 'undecided' about whether to be in one gear or another. I had a similar symptom on another car (ford escort) and the mechanic suggested replacing the Throttle position sensor. It does seem like it's not getting firm signal from changes in throttle . TPS sensors are kinda pricey on this car, so I don't want to replace it unless I'm sure it needs it. Is there a way to check the one I have?

Could it be ground or other electrical connections? Where are the grounds I should check?

3. In the morning on first startup it can run really rough, misfiring on one or more cylinders. Run it for a while and it will clear up and be really smooth and be fine on starting the rest of the day. I think it's either oil (5w30 synthetic recently changed) or water getting on the plugs fouling them until they can fire and clear themselves. I'm suspecting oil seeping past the valve guides. since it shows no other cooling system problems. I May have to go with a slightly thicker oil for this high mileage car. I really need to be watching the exhaust when I start it to see if it's oil smoke or steam coming out but when you're starting the car that's difficult.

BTW Plugs were changed not long ago.

4. I hear a sort of 'whirring' from the engine that I 'm not comfortable with. It could be power steering pump or something, but it sounds like a bearing about to fail. I'm worried it's timing belt tension bearings or maybe water pump. That one I'll have to try and isolate. This one keeps me from longer trips in the car.

Any suggestions on any of these would be appreciated.