Idle problem

I've read through several posts about idle problems and none of them quite describe what's happening with my Saturn. It's a 2000 SL2 with a 5 speed. The problem is very intermittent. The thing will work fine for months then out of the blue it will not idle normally for a few days. Then it's back to normal again.
You first notice the problem with cold starts. Normally it idles up pretty high when cold then slowly settles down. When it's having its problem it is very slow to idle up and only holds at around 1000 rpms (when cold). I live in Wisconsin by the way so it can be very cold. Then once it's warmed up, and you come to a stop, the thing drops dangerously low like 400 rpm or less and almost stalls. The lights even dim. It bounces up at down between 400 or so and 1000 rpm about 4 or 5 times until it levels off at the normal 850 rpm. With this most recent event it actually stalled twice when I put in the clutch to slow down. Starts up fine after. I'm assuming it's some idle control device.


Thanks in advance for any help.

Went to a Saturn forum and got lots of help. Turns out all I had to do is remove the throttle body and give it a good bath. The thing runs like new again. :)

lemme guess, www.saturnfans.com? Great folks, eh?

Yes it was Saturnfans. Great group of people. But I've always had excellent help in this forum as well with my Venture van.