the original pump was from year 2000 so it's been 6 yrs.
checked the voltage and measures 240vac.
i live in a hot climate (high 90's in the summers). I think what did it was it running semi dry (cavitating) while I was on vacation and found the pool water below the desired level. Perhaps this caused the seal to fail and water go into the motor??? not sure.

also recently I've increased watering on the slope near where the pump is located, not sure if water got into it. I need to find a way to shield it in the future.

I took the motor out and see if the impeller was binding and ran the motor without it being attached. It started to smoke so I stopped out. Probably under load it will draw too much current and trip the breaker again. So I'm going to replace the motor for $190 shipped with a new seal. Sounds reasonable I think and I hope this is the right solution to my problem. Please let me know if I'm headed down the wrong path. Sounds like it can be fixed but might not be worth the time.
thanks for your help.

Jackson