Central Air fan motor bad - odds of damaged compressor?

[emrr]

A few weeks back I came home at night from a 2 day trip and found central air unit running, and 85 degrees in the house.  Shut it off and opened the windows.

Next day powered it up again, and the relay/contactor fired, then the compressor cranked up and got hot within 1 minute.  Fan didn't start. 
Checked caps, one open and other two slightly low.  Replaced all, nothing.  Pulled fan motor and checked under the back cover, windings definitely burnt.    New fan motor prices around $200. 

Wondering if it's time to call in a service tech before replacing the fan myself.  I found one bit about diagnosing for compressor failure, but it seemed to require a working fan for observation.  This thing is beyond ancient, and I'd hate to throw $200 at a fan and still need to replace everything.  I have no real idea how long it ran with a bad fan motor, I only know it was still running, and didn't trip the breaker. 

Thoughts?

 

[bruno2000]

Is the burned motor the one inside the house that circulates the cool air, or the one outside for the evaporator coil?
I have a unit that ran for a week (but not very well) without the outside fan.  Luckily it was just the motor run cap.  Replaced that puppy, and all was well.  I did have to add some "Freon" the next season.
Best,
Bruno2000

 

[emrr]

fan on the unit outside the house. 

 

[bruno2000]

I'd just remove the old fan, stick a $10 box fan on top of the unit on high, crank up the unit, and see if it cools.  My situation was in the summer of 2010, and it cooled through the summer of 2011 with no problems.
Best of luck!
Bruno2000

 

[emrr]

Now that's an idea!