New Pump or New Motor

[Poconos]

I thought I replied yesterday but must have gotten distracted. Happens quite often here. Anyhow, the noises could be the motor bearings and/or the pump seal. If it's the bearings then with a pump that old and in the weather it would be difficult or impossible to replace just the bearings because of rusted bolts and the bearings. Therefore a new motor. In the pump housing there are normally no contacting parts so damage is unlikely, except for the seal. I don't know what the cost differential is between just a motor and an entire new pump but in my opinion the thing owes you nothing after 15 years and I'd go for a new pump. If you feel ambitious you can try taking things apart to see what's the real problem but I feel it would be much less of a hassle just to go new pump.
Al

[TwistyKat]

Thanks for the comments Al. For the sake of completion I thought I'd post an update.

My friendly neighborhood pool tech decided for me that is issue was likely a capacitor in the pump that needed to be replaced. He had a particular name for it which I forget. So we did that and the pump fired up like a champ. It's old and worn but it looks like I'm going to get a little more time out of it. Happy days!

[Poconos]

Very good.
Guess I misinterpreted the noise. When the cap goes the motor won't even start. It's called a starting capacitor. It is in series with a centrifugal switch that connects a starting winding in the motor, the cap and the switch when the rotor isn't turning. Once the thing hits a certain speed the switch opens and the circuit isn't needed. It the cap fails open then there is a low level hum. If it shorts then there is a louder hum. In either case, no start. FYI another failure mechanism that has been posted as a problem many times is the switch contacts get dirty and they won't close. Just remember this for now. Usually a very simple and cheap fix.
Al