Failing Pump?

Pool is 17 years old with the original Century/AOSmith SQ1202 2hp motor.  Recently started running a bit louder, not screeching yet but louder.  My problem is that my equipment is 14 feet higher than the pool/spa so it pumps uphill.  The past week+ I have had to prime the pump daily. I replaced the check valve and it seems like it’s retaining suction overnight, but when I turn on the pump I can see thru the clear pump & chack valve covers that it sucks the water out and then runs dry…  After a couple minutes it will eventually catch and start pumping water.  Obviously I don’t want to run the pump dry for a few minutes each day, or have to manually prime it to get it going.  Do you think the motor is weakening?  I’ve got a lot of years out of it, and once it’s primed it seems to be running the cleaner & spa like usual.  Not sure if you can view my cart, but I have the Pump motor plus the Tune Up Kit.  Should I try the Tune Up Kit first?  What other causes do you think it might be?  Thank!

Good afternoon. There are a few things that can cause a pool pump not to prime. Please click here to view a guide we created for both testing and troubleshooting what those issues may be.

I just received the new Pump Motor & Tune Up Kit, will install this weekend and update this post with results.  Thx!

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