Toyota Repair: Toyta Celica Stalling, toyta celica, egr valve

Question
Hi Ted.

You’ve got some great information on here.  I have a 1997 Celica Convertible I bought in Florida last month.  I drove it 1100 miles home, no problems, but now I’m having ignition problems.  The car will drive on the highway all day long with no problems.  Intermittently, when I’m in town at stoplights, the car will stall, and not restart for 20 minutes.  At first I figured a weak fuel pump, but I checked the pump one time while it cranked, and it was pumping, and I could smell raw fuel from the exhaust.  I did the basic tune-up, and changed the igniter, but it still does it.  Today was the first time it pulled a code, and it was a P1300 igniter code, and a P0401 EGR code.  With a vacuum on the EGR valve, it does stall the engine.  The VSV won’t hold a vacuum on the bottom port, so it is bad, correct?  Any ideas on the stalling?  I figured I’d try an ignition coil next, but replacing good parts is getting expensive.  Of course the car only stalls when I’m in traffic!  Thanks, Scott

Answer
The egr vsv is a common problem, they can be intermittent,I would recommend replacing it, in fact, they cause so many problems that we automatically replace them whenever an egr repair is done, another common cause for the po401 code is the egr modulator valve, it should also be replaced, distributor problems are also kind of common on these engines, the ignition coil is inside the distributor, check it for cracks, remove the rotor and the coil cover and check for cracks in the resin filled area, check for burned spots on the underside, very common, if the coil is ok replace the distributor.