Toyota Repair: 1988 Celica GT starts, but wont run long, fuel pressure gauge, celica gt

Question
Hi, I have a 1988 Celica GT that ran fine until one day, in the winter, when I went outside to start it....it started right up, as usual, ran for about 45 seconds, then seemed to either lose the spark, or fuel supply, and died. It would not start again, that day. After a day or 2, I tried again, and it started up fairly easily, ran for about 30 seconds, and died again. Again, it would not start again that day, but, if I let it sit for a few days, the pattern would continue. I had a mechanic friend of mine look at it, and we've determined that the engine IS getting gas, and we replaced the coil, cap, and rotor, when the spark appeared weak. It started again, but only ran for that same 30 seconds or so....every time this happened, the car would only idle, and if I attempted to give it gas, it would seem to "starve" the engine, rather than give it power, sort of like it was not getting enough gas, or maybe getting too much air? We also checked the cold start sensor, and that appears to be ok. Any help? Thanks! Tom

Answer
Look for a large vacuum leak on the intake side, check between the air cleaner and the throttle body, the large intake hose for a leak or any other vacuum hose. If that's not the case I would suspect the fuel pump, try to hook up a fuel pressure gauge and see what happens to the fuel pressure when this happens.
These engines also had problems with distributors so I would advise that the next time the engine dies check to see if there is spark at the coil wire, if not the distributor may need to be replaced.