Turns out the starter was not jumping out to engage the flywheel. What I heard was just the starter running. When I took off the side covers I could see the fly wheel was not turning. In turning the fly wheel by hand, there was compression. Further investigation showed the starter was rsuty and not jumping out. Dodged the bullet on this one, and promptly chnaged the oil and made sure it was full.
Thanks for all of the links as I now have a pretty comprehensive manual for future use.
