Faulty compressor or liquid slugging

[AGi]

Got a call to a restaurant to replace a fan blade on a cooling tower. Ice had built up on the grate in front of the fan and the blades sheared off. This tower cools a rack of compressors for three walk in coolers, a walk in freezer and two line coolers. The entire system is ill maintained and the fill in the tower is calcified and allows very little air flow.
I mention this because I was asked to look at one of the line coolers as it went down at the same time as the blade malfunction (or so the customer said).
The compressor tries to start, vibrates noticably and loudly, draws high amps (24 to 36amps, LRA is 46) and stops. This cycle repeats continuously.
The compressor is a 3/4 hp med temp r-12(?) unit, 8 ft in the air and about 40 ft from the line cooler. The evap fans are running, the fins are clean and I did notice that there is a 20 foot section of uninsulated suction line under the cooler. (didn't think to look in the ceiling to see if the rest of the lineset is insulated).
My question is: Could this be caused by liquid slugging? How can I verify this with a pump that won't start?
BTW, the relay, cap and windings ohm out ok and the sight glass is about 1/4 full as it sits.

[Tesla]

Hi AGi and welcome to our forum.
A little confused - ice broke the blade on a cooling tower? If I assume ice on the evap broke the fans then the comp could well have suffered a liquid slug. Best way to test your comp would be with a Direct On Line tester. If you don't have one they are easy enough to build. Another method I used to use on old r12 units (when they are tired) is to use a larger capacitor and give it a kick with my steel cap whilst trying to start. If it runs it will not last much longer maybe 3 - 6 months. This depends on how tight your customer is and it would be better to replace the comp, start gear and insulate those lines along with repairing/replacing the fill in the cooling tower.
Almost forgot the system should be converted to a friendlier refrigerant.

[AGi]

The outdoor temps are in the single digits here at night. Ice forming on the grate has been a problem as long as this tower has been in place (30+ yrs). There is no evidence that the blades hit anything else, so I'm assuming it was the ice buildup. There was no ice buildup on the evap coils. I really think this is a bad compressor that has nothing to do with the cooling tower issues (or slugging), but I wanted a second opinion.
I'll be replacing the compressor this morning and insulating the suction lines.
Thanks for your insight.