Toyota Repair: 94 Celica GT, intermittent stall, egr valve, celica gt

Question
Hi Ted,

I'm a former Toyota tech myself; I was a tech at 2 dealerships in MN (total 6 years) before I went back to school.
Anyway, I own a 94 Celica GT 2.2L with a 5-speed that is stalling. I can start it up and run it for about 10 minutes from cold-start, but after that it dies; sometimes it will start again and die shortly thereafter, or it won't start at all, even with my foot on the gas all the way.
For the past couple weeks, the idle has been weird. If I clutch in at a stoplight, the engine (occasionally) revs up to 2,000 from idle and stays there for awhile. Then, when I let the clutch up the engine almost stalls. Either that, or it will drop back down to idle again; not quite, "hunting idle", but close.
I pulled the codes: code 71 for the EGR and code 14 for the ignition...I'm a little shaky on the definition for code 14, if you have a better one or one that's more specific I'd appreciate it. I'm not sure if it threw that code from cranking too long without starting, or if I have a genuine ignition problem.
I sprayed out the throttle body, making sure to get inside the IAC inlet. After that, it ran; I made it about a block before it died again.
I'm positive I have an EGR problem, but I don't know which part to start with. I was going to shotgun a modulator or a VSV at it, but I'm just wondering if that will really fix it? I still have to check for spark after the thing quits starting.  I don't have access to a vacuum pump, or I'll have to buy one to check the EGR valve diaphragm. I've had Camry 4 cyls with automatics that stall at stoplights and it ended up being the EGR, but I don't think I've ever had one so bad that it won't start or stay running.
I put a re-manufactured distributor in it last year (yes, its aftermarket and I'm sure this is my car's revenge on me for putting non-Toyota parts in it) and the plugs and wires are new. Idle quality has not been an issue, its simply staying running that is the problem.
Besides some EGR component or a "dying" coil or pick-up coil, the only things I can think of would be the IAC motor or the MAP sensor. I am on a student's budget (which is nothing) and I gotta get this right. I would appreciate any feedback based on your experience and advice you might have.

Thanks!!
Nate

Answer
Hello, the code 71 is usually caused by a leaking vacuum modulator, remove it and see if air passes through when blowing into the bottom pipe, if it does it's leaking and should be replaced, we normally replace the VSV as well but you may want to just try the valve by itself first. The code 14 is a distributor signal sensor code which could cause the stalling but the next step I would do is to remove the throttle body and then the IAC valve and physically clean it using a brush and a can of spray intake cleaner, remove all carbon deposits and make sure the valve can be pushed open and then closes by itself, there should be a small air gap when the valve returns to the closed position. After that if the engine still stalls while driving and the code 14 comes back you may have to replace the distributor.