Problem with motor hesitating

I have 1.5 year old Hayward pool motor that has recently developed some issues. I first noticed this a week ago when the pump was off during the day when it should be on. I looked at the circuit breaker and it was red. I flipped it back on and after 4-5 seconds of humming the motor started and functioned without any issues. It worked for 2 days and then the same thing. This time when I switched the circuit breaker back on it hummed for 4-5 seconds and flipped the breaker. I tried it again and it hesitated and then started. It keeps going through this cycle of working for a few days then not. I manually turned the impeller and it turns freely. I also tested the capacitor with a multimeter and it seems to be functioning. Anyone have an idea what may be causing this hesitation at startup with normal function thereafter?

Those symptoms are usually caused by a bad start capacitor. You said you testing it but exactly how did you test it and what where the results? On an ohm meter, a capacitor will appear as a short (0 ohms) initially and then eventually an open (infinite resistance). If it shows any resistance at full charge, it is probably leaking.

Another possibility is the centrifugal switch, assuming your motor has one. If the contacts are dirty, that can cause start issues.

There is a second thread that was started about this that got several replies so I'm going to lock this one.