I had the same issue today. The pump shut off and the exterior metal housing was very hot to the touch. After cooling off for an hour, it would allow itself to be turned on and then run for 2-3 seconds and shut off again and become very hot again. So something was definitely wrong with it. But the fact that it started at least was telling me that there was power supply to the pump and the issue was within the pump itself. My pump model is Pentair WF-28, 2 hp. The method for fixing it was:
1. Watch a bunch of videos on Youtube on pool pump troubleshooting.
2. Remove the rear housing of the pump motor and turn the pump rotor rod by hand in both directions to rule out a bad bearing or something being stuck in the movement mechanism.
3. Remove the top cover housing the run capacitor (which is a silver cylinder with 2 nipples on top) and discharge and remove the capacitor.
4. Test the capacitor using a digital multimeter (again watched how to do it on Youtube).
5. Buy a new capacitor at my local pool store and replace the old one. The local store sold capacitors for around $35. Same ones are under $10 on Amazon, but I did not want to wait for delivery.
And the pump is back in business. The guy at the pool store said that the majority of the time when a pump stops working it is due to a bad capacitor. So pool pumps are very similar to HVAC systems in that aspect of troubleshooting.
Anyhow, a capacitor is very easy to access and replace. And if you do it yourself, it saves a lot of money compared to calling for service.
Very nice first post.