Ignition key lock, starter and flywheel

[Vojin Janjic <vjanjic@mail.state.tn.us>]

Hey John

don't worry, you are not prolonging my pain.  I'll try to explaing the
best I can understand it.

>You didn't say why the service dept felt it was necessary to
>replace all  those parts. A flywheel is just a flat disk with gear
>teeth on it. The only reason to replace it would be if a tooth
>broke. What are the details here? 

Apparently, it all started with a broken ignition key lock, which
was sending false "start the engine" signal to the starter. 
Although the engine is protected and can take some "false"
signals (like if you turn the key in the ignition lock while the
engine is running), this was too much - the starter broke off
some teeth from the flywheel and killed itself in the process.

Vojin