My son's 2005 Recon 250 won't start. Just used it the other day and it was fine. Lots of cranking power, just won't turn over. I noticed the gas cap was kind of "floppy" so I went to tighten it and it kind of came apart. There is a hose that comes out of it, that looks fine. But there is a top piece and then the bottom piece screws onto the tank. The top piece should be mated up with the bottom piece, but I can lift it right off and there are these white "gear like" looking things in there...

Is it possible this sort of broken gas cap is keeping the unit from starting? Appreciate any insight!

 

Extremely unlikely that the cap is the problem. "just won't turn over" is ambiguous as this suggests the starter will not turn, but "Lots of cranking power" suggests the opposite.

The two halves of the filler cap just snap together but you have to make sure the white plastic ratchet is in the right place before pressing the two halves together again. We have just taken in a part-exchange 350 with half of the white bits missing, so can't put it back together as, without the ratchet you can't screw/unscrew it.