Null, as you are still on the forum, I guess I caught you before you went to the store. My $ quote was based on what our store would charge ($240 for the motor, $15 for the seal and $4-5 for the housing gasket). You are getting much better prices wherever you're going, a new pump would be over $400 from us. That said, save yourself some hastle and get the whole pump, I was trying to save you some $, but for $280 the new pump makes sense.
Al, thanks for the education, I've only seen the inside of the motor once (~1990) and was told that there were brushes in them - sorry for disseminating BS
As to a cause for the failure, poor maintenance. A lot of folks keep all their pool stuff together for the winter, pump, filter, skimmer baskets, etc as well as thier chems - including tri chlor tabs. As I said before, even tightly sealed cl will vent off and oxidize all metals in the area - add a compromised shaft seal (with the often acidic water from using tri chlor) ... and it's rust city!


Good luck with the new pump, you probably won't need it but, if any advice is required to get the new one in, just ask - that's why we're here