Quote Originally Posted by rpmcaninch View Post
thinking that water on the seal might help ??
No, I don't think so. Running a seal dry will ruin the seal, but it's not going to produce all that much load on the motor.

Did you try running the motor when the pump was apart? That would help you ID a problem that is with the motor. Honestly, any thing that would load the motor that much, would be likely to leave visible damage in the pump case.

Also: you can pour PLAIN 8.25% household bleach directly in the pool to keep it, while you work on the pump.