Thanks much for your response. I went ahead and took the motor and capicitor down to the AC shop today. They tested the cap and said it was good and hooked them both up to power and confirmed a dead motor. The buzz was from the motor... when it would kick on it would make about a quarter turn and just hang... i could try and turn it with my hand it would kick around a little and hang again.
Any way, took home a new motor for $90, put it all back together only to find out i had a really powerful vaccum cleaner. It sucked the box to the top! Anyway, this motor had the ability to spin either way, so i swapped the wires that control the direction and was back in business.
I suspected the frost on the coils was due to no air being sucked through them. Since it's been going again, no frost.
Im a bit disappointed that motor didn't last longer. It's only a 4 year old unit. Anything i can do to prolong its life? Should i gutter the eave on my house above it to keep run off from going in it? Does it matter?
Im curious though, for heating, why does the outside compressor and unit run? What's its advantage? Also, whats the difference btwn heat and emergency heat? Emer heat comes on when thers a 2 degree or more difference...
This site is really great -- save me over $200 today. Thanks for your help!
J