Chrysler Repair: Flywheel or starter, crankshaft pulley, pulley bolt

Question
I am torn between whether my car not starting is directly stemmed from the actual starter or flywheel. Is there a way to discern the difference, without going through a bunch of channels. Knowing this will help me determine if the vehicle is worth salvaging. I have a 99 Dodge Intrepid, 2.7L engine.

Answer
Hi Sara,
The flywheel (flexplate) and the starter motor 'bendix' gear have teeth which mesh together. So it you remove the starter motor you should be able to inspect it as well as the teeth on the flywheel. You would turn the crankshaft by hand using a socket and bar on the crankshaft pulley bolt. That would be one way to find out which gear has gone bad. Another idea would be to put a paint mark on the pulley when/if you have a failure of the starter to engage. Then rotate the crank a bit and try the starter again. If it then works, and again if in the future it doesn't work and the paint mark shows the crank to be in te same position as the first failure point, then that would be a good indication that there is a bad tooth in flexplate at that position. Or you could simply replace the starter motor and see if the new/rebuilt unit works or not.
Roland