05 dodge neon starter grinding noise

my mom has a -2004- (SORRY) sxt 2.0 dohc neon. She said she stopped at a railroad crossing and turned off the car to save gas (lol) when she tried to start it, it wouldn't start she said it made a grinding noise. Well my brother and a friend pushed it home it was only a few blocks. When i got off of work i tried to start it and it did sound like the starter-no clicking or cranking just grinding. The lights ,radio and all other electronics work. I checked the battery with a volt meter and it was good 12.6v. While i was at work today a friend replace the starter (165.00$) and it's still doing the same thing it sounds like it needs shims but i wont know till i check it 2moro.(OFF FOR 2 DAYS) If anybody has had problems like this before please let me know- i would appreciate it
THANKS IN ADVANCE

sounds like the flywheel is missing a few teeth use a big wrench or something to turn the motor over a bit then try starting if it spins over then it is confirmed you need a flywheel

sounds like the flywheel is missing a few teeth use a big wrench or something to turn the motor over a bit then try starting if it spins over then it is confirmed you need a flywheel

^^^^^ Yep! (or you got a bum starter from the parts store) The above is more likely. Also, check the voltage of the battery when starting as a bad cell can cause a loss of cranking amps. If you don't want to risk damaging teeth on the flywheel/flexplate for this procedure (if none are really damaged already) take the battery to any major auto parts store where they can test the battery for you free of charge.

thanks for the help guys. i took the starter to autozone and it tested good, i was worried it was the flywheel but it turned out to be a dead cell in the battery,i bought a new one and it started right up- thanks again

You said you checked the battery, but did you check it while cranking the engine?

Good to hear it was something simple.

no i checked it while it was off

no i checked it while it was off
That was part of the problem. You needed to check the voltage while it was cranking, but good to hear you got it all taken care of.