I had to make one final entry as I fixed the problem! Not wanting to spend more money for this old car, but wanting it to work as the engine purrs and the interior is very good with a perfect air conditioner, I bought a speed sensor on the internet for $10.00! After installing it my speedo problems ceased! I might note that the more I drove the car, the faster the problems surfaced! But never was there a problem with the electrical devices. Even with the speeedo problems the air worked, the signals worked and the brakes worked. The headlights did not dim with the brakes or the turn signals, just speedometer jumping and at lower speeds, the speedo bounced around at 0-20 dropping out of gear! The fix: replaced the distributor as it had a very bad oil leak that covered the speed sensor with oil. Cleaned up the oil and replaced the vehicle speed sensor. My mechanic quoted $800.00 for the job, I did it for $135.00. Love these Camrys.

 

Great job!

Perhaps the speed sensor was shorting out over time due to excess oil, then causing the electrical issues.

Good job on getting the repair costs down to something reasonable.

Thanks for posting back with the fix.

 

Nice to hear a happy ending! Thanks for posting back with results and the fix.