I think what mantis meant by saying flammable was to use something like ether or easy start, because if it got drawn into any vacuum leaks a change in idle speed would be recognized. While I'm not sure if carb cleaner would necessarily be harmful, I will say that I don't think you'd want to use wd-40 for what mantis was suggesting.

I'm not sure at this point what other suggestions to make, but will keep it in mind.