[BlackArcher101]

Typical mechanics these days it seems. In this day and age there is a ton of diagnostic tools available to help narrow down a problem, but they must not be using them. If I hear "I think" from a mechanic, I go elsewhere next time, especially if they want to charge a min 1 hour for diagnostic time.

The old method of "replace parts and hope it fixes it" diagnostic method is still alive and well. Would it hurt to learn how to use the tools available to you? I also ask for any part they remove from the car to be given back to me so I can actually see if it was a problem or not. If unable due to size or other reason, any good mechanic will not have a problem showing you the problem piece and what happened to it.

In this case, if the flywheel was damaged, it should be visual. I'd ask if they still have it. If the mechanic noticed the flywheel was still ok after cracking it open, he should have stopped there and given you the option of just putting it back together or replace with a new once since he's gotten to that point (at a discount).

An imtermittent lumpy pulsing idle screams electical/sensor to me. Mechanical problems like a flywheel wouldn't really be intermittent. It's not like a broken gear tooth will sometimes work or and sometimes not, it's always broken. A shop with a decent diagnostic computer reading the signals for the engine would probably make short work of the problem. Of course this depends on the car you have.