I had a problem like this once with my Zetec, I went to go uphill, I downshifted to 2nd gear, pushed the gas pedal down a little harder, instantly I had a rough running engine, no power, and my CEL was Flashing like crazy... Indicating a bad "misfire" when really I had "no fire" and it felt like the engine had a super low idle, Turned out my Coil pack had gone bad.

98 Corolla LE 1.8L DOHC 1ZZFE TEIN H.Tech Springs Tokico HP series Struts Short ram air intake Tsudo Axel Back Exhaust ... if a jelly fish stung me.. would you pee on the wound?