Under the hood. I pulled it out and with both hoses off, it was blocked when I tried to blow through either side. Very perplexing because it's so smooth after the 5 seconds of "roughish" starting and then drives so well.

 

If this was a carbureted engine, I'd be looking at the choke. Ah, remember the days of spinning a wingnut off, sticking a screwdriver in to open a closed choke... I agree with donbrew that it's lean when it wants to be rich making it sluggish at first starting. I'll get some throttle body cleaner today and give that a try, but I'm not very optimistic.

 

Could be 1 or more injectors acting up, they are the analog of a choke.

I remember taking my dad's New Yorker to prom and having to hitch a ride home because the choke stuck.

 

Thanks, I've been thinking about that. Does Techron do any good?

 

I don't believe in "miracles".

 

Ha Ha. Neither did Donald Trump. Ha Ha. [That's not a political statement.]

 

Are you going to remove the throttle body to clean or do it on the car?

85,000 miles ....I would remove it to clean. Clean both sides.
Just be sure to disconnect the negative batt. cable first, and don't move the throttle plate.
See my post a week or so ago as I just cleaned mine and left a couple helpful observations in the process.
With only 30,000 miles it was dirty.

I use Techron as part of a mini tune. I put in the full dose for 3 or 4 tank full's and then
wait a year and do it again.
My HHR's have always started immediately and Idled perfectly smooth.
During the winter months I use Mix-I-Go by Bell for the water condensation and ethanol issues. Also keep the tank full as well.

Silverfox

 

After a little reading, it looks easy enough to remove it. Disconnect the battery Neg., DON'T move the butterfly, order a new gasket, etc. I searched and searched for Oldblue's post as mentioned in yours but never did find it. Search results for "throttle body" "remove throttle body" & "cleaning throttle body" were such things as: roof racks, bumper removal, turn signal light, etc., but no throttle body from Oldblue.

 

Well my 2 posts were on 3/11 and 3/12 in case you did not see them.

One other thing is to handle the air intake wooly worm with care when removing the air box. They can easily be damaged or broken in half and that's a $70 part.

My second post on 3/12 shows a picture of the small brushes I used to get around the plate area without disturbing it and the method I found worked best to use them.
They were purchased at Walmart in the art section for around $3 a bag full.
Also do not over torque the 4 throttle body bolts. Just snug.
If your throttle body is really dirty you will probably need a full bottle of spray cleaner to do it right.
CRC has a kit with both MAF and TB in it.

Walmart also had the Techron and the cleaners online with shipping right to your front door.

Silverfox

 

Try changing "threads" to "posts".

The gasket is reuseable, you just described the entire operation, use "THROTTLE BODY CLEANER".