Carb cleaner shouldn't hurt anything, but it also won't help much. If your intake is clogged to the point of needing a proper cleaning, I'd either take it to a shop that has the equipment to do a top end flush, or just pull off the intake and give it a proper cleaning with brushes, solvents, etc. I doubt it needs either though. Sometimes it can get enough gunk built up that the TB needs to be cleaned, as the idle circuit gets compromised. The top end flush is something I've never had done, but apparently it involves some special equipment that cylces solvents through the intake, into the combustuion chambers, and out the spark plug holes. IIRC it runs for several hours per cylinder. Again - I doubt it needs any of this, with the possible exception of a TB cleaning. Get the coil on and see what you see. If it's running good after that, I'd do nothing.
I'd also like to offer you encouragement for digging into it yourself. I'm all for using an expert when the time comes, but chasing a misfire or a high idle is nothing that a motivated home mechanic can't do. If you invest a few hours and still can't find anything, then sure - let the experts have a crack at it. If it's something simple like a coil or a vaccum leak, then you're not going to hurt anything spending some time hunting it down. If it is something more serious like a bent/burnt valve, holed piston, etc, then you're unlikely to do any additional damage. I'm a big believer that you learn by doing. I had never done a clutch before my first clutch job. I had never done a timing belt before my first timing belt job. The job that I attacked with the largest number of naysayers was a transmission rebuild and LSD installation. 2 years and thousands of redline shifts later and it is still flawless. Way to go for digging in.
