Normally when I fire up my 1998 SLE, it turns over and starts just fine... idles smooth as silk right away at 1000 RPM or so. But occasionally (maybe 1 out of every 5-6 starts), it sputters a little bit at 500 RPM and revs itself to ~2000 RPM before smoothing out like normal. The upset never lasts more than a second or two, but it is definitely noticeable. Is this normal? Anything I should check or do right away? TIA!

You may be seeing the first clue that you need to clean your TB and IAC valve.

Alrighty... any easy way to explain how to do that? Or can you (or anyone) recommend the best repair manual? I suppose that would be a good investment at this point!

http://www.geocities.com/rivierareso...ecleaning.html

i disagree with some of the steps though....i'd take the MAF sensor out after getting the throttlebody off of the car. You should also remove the IAC motor and the TPS. it might take a lot of scrubbing to clean the idle air passageway