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My 2003 Subaru Outback has a sticky throttle when the car is cold.  It also has trouble starting occasionally as well as some very noisy lifters.  I have taken it to the dealer for an regular inspection (about 90,000 mile) and the mechanic said that the car has gunk built up in the throttle box or cable and that it needs to be flushed or cleansed.  This will come to about $240.00  at this shop as well as saying it is not under warranty.  If it is not under warranty, should I take the car to another shop? And is 240.00 too much for what sounds like a fairly easy procedure? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Will  

i have a normal flat rate manual...  it only shows remove and replace on the throttle body..   .6 hours total, (40 minutes or so)  there is a decimal before the six..

i am not familiar with suburu's ... but cleaning the throttle body can be done on most cars in under an hour..  i have cleaned them on other cars in 5 minutes... depending on how it is installed and what stuff is bolted to it..

let me do some research... i will try to get back in a few hours... i plan on taking at look at the autozone site.. they have free repair info on most cars online..

if you can get the air duct off the inlet...  and can reach in.. the idea is to reach in with a shop towel with some cleaner on it.. and wipe out the area around the throttle blade...  there are little ridges of carbon built up behind it..   cleaning the throttle blade is also a good idea...    the problem.. you don't want to wet the throttle position sensor with the cleaning chemical.. any spray that can get in there can wick its way down the throttle shaft.. and ruin the throttle position sensor.  you also will probably want to clean the idle air control motor bore... and the end of the motor.. but again.. not  getting spray or liquid into the idle air control motor...

if you get too much in the intake manifold... it will go down the intake passages.. into a cylinder..  when you go to start it.. you will damage the motor as fluids are not compressible.. and there is not a lot of room in the cylinder...  some engines.. a table spoon of liquid.. may lock the engine..

i think i would call around...  as the service departments and some independent suburu garages.. how much to clean the throttle body..    

autoozone.com does have a free repair manual.. they cover removing and installing the throttle body.. but not how to clean it..  and what you need to do to clean it...