CA engine trouble, need help

[livelyjay]

I figure I'll post here since you guys are more familiar with the CA engine family.
Vehicle:1987 Nissan Pulsar SE, CA16DE, 135000 miles, 5 speed
Problems:
1) Start the car in the morning
- Starts fine
- Sometimes it Idles rough and bounces between 500 and 800 rpms
2) Pull out of my driveway
- Sometimes the car wants to die just pulling out of the driveway
- Car has like zero power at low RPMs
- Car acts like it wants to die at low RPMs
- Shifting from 1st into 2nd, no power unless high RPMs
3) Drive for a bit on the hwy and car warms up
- Higher RPMs the car feels fine, not sluggish, has some pep
- Get off hwy and the idle is rough and car wants to die

Where do I start with the troubleshooting? I pulled the ECU out and checked for codes, and it didn't appear there were any.

[chad-s12-drift]

have you checked for a vac leak thats my first guess and is an easy fix

[livelyjay]

I just bought a vacuum pump with gauge to bleed my clutch line and brakes. I'll throw that onto a few sections of line tonight and see if there's a leak. Any other thoughts?

[beans33]

Timing ? check codes on ecu ?

[livelyjay]

Timing is fine. I replaced the timing belt myself and had the timing checked afterward by a shop. The ECU does not appear to be throwing codes but I can't say I am competent at checking them since it's not that straightforward.

I checked the vacuum tonight. The gauge was reading -17 when at idle which to my understanding is a little low right? I checked by the vacuum canister on the firewall and on a line right off the intake manifold and the both had the same readings. In comparison my 2003 Mazdaspeed Protege pulls -22 at idle and -19 when the AC is on.

[livelyjay]

So, any ideas guys?

Vacuum gauge reads -17 and is fluttering ever so slightly. When I rev and lift it drops to -22 and settles back to -17. Vacuum leak or another problem? I squirted carb cleaner around the intake manifold and the idle didn't change. How do I proceed with troubleshooting?