I got the starter off today and gears are all stripped off. It was a bit difficult to take off. I took out the first 3 of 4 bolts on each side of the tray and swung the generator down so I could get in behind it more easily. Unscrewed both bolts on the starter but it still wouldn't budge. After a lot of hammering and prying with a flathead screwdriver (which resulted in breaking of one of the bolt flanges) nothing was happening. Some WD-40 and wedging a wrench between the engine bock and starter allowed me to pry it to the side and it popped off finally. Because of the broken part on the starter housing, I'm going to replace the whole starter which is $157 from the Onan dealer. I'll try putting that in tomorrow and see what happens.
What is the best way to see if the engine flywheel is turning properly? I don't see a way to access it to turn it by hand so I can make sure the starter won't break again. Thanks for all of the help so far in helping me find that problem.
