Our onan generator ran out of gas. we refueled but the generator will not start. i gave it a shoot of starting fluid, the generator fired and run for a second, then died. could it be a cogged fuel filter? need help

No, not the filter, you will need to try to prime the carb better then with starting fluid, pour some gasoline down the carb, you may have to do this a few times, but everything will fire back up again once you get the air out of the system

Sometimes people mistakenly think there's a problem with a carb on Onan 4000 generators. Be sure to ensure the fuel pump is pumping fuel to the carb by pulling the hose off the carb and watching for adequate flow. A faulty electric fuel pump can often only show symptoms or act up after it is warmed up. Sometimes it may run for 10 or 20 minutes and just shut down. Check for fuel flow immediately upon stalling if this is your symptom. Mine would shut down after 20 minutes and not restart for awhile. I pulled the hose off the carb immediately and noted there was no fuel in the line and it would not pump fuel while holding the start switch on either. If you are mechanically savvy you can disconnect the hot wire the positive wire (red) leading into the fuel pump and connect it with 12 V and see if it pumps fuel out the hose also, but be careful to capture the fuel coming out the hose). Once cooled down it pumped fuel in a weaker than normal stream, but when hot after 10 or 20 minutes it quit pumping causing stalling of the generator. Replaced the fuel pump (and new filter while at it) and everything worked fine again on my 1995 Onan. Much stronger fuel stream noted too from the hose.