Air Conditioning - bad contactor?

My centralAC unit was blowing hot air; checked outside, fan not blowing, hot to touch. Replaced that and the capacitor, still not running, but just a small hum. Could it be the contactor? Read that insects/spiders could cause failure of contactor. We have a wild number of spiders this year. Maybe replace that? Heaven help me, I hope it isn't the compressor. Could a hard start kit help?
Thanks, I've learned a lot just perusing these posts.

If the outdoor unit is hot, it sounds like the compressor may be running without the fan. An easy way to tell is to touch the small copper line leaving the outdoor unit & going to the house. If it is very hot, the compressor is probably running which would eliminate the contactor being bad. There could be a bad fan motor, fan capacitor, or maybe just a bad wiring connection. Do you have a voltmeter & know how to use it?

If it is very hot, the compressor is probably running which would eliminate the contactor being bad.
Not necessisarily. A dual pole contactor could be allowing the compressor to work normally through one pole while the fan is prevented from working due to roach/spider/etc under the contact of the second pole.

Usually, a volt meter can diagnose this. On the other hand I have also simply taken an insulated screwdriver and applied a bit of pressure to the mechanics of the contactor and it allowed the non working pole to connect, confirming the need for replacement.

Of course, extreme caution if you decide to do this...

With a douple pole contactor, both sides need to close to make the compressor run unless someone has wired it as a single pole by bypassing the contactor on one side for the compressor only.

With a douple pole contactor, both sides need to close to make the compressor run unless someone has wired it as a single pole by bypassing the contactor on one side for the compressor only.
That is simply not true. Case in point is a Trane BTD736A100A0. Many others are probably wired the same way. While it is true that this is an older unit, this forum does not restrict it's postings to only models manufactured after xxxx. It could very well be wired that way. The original poster does not indicate the age of his unit (unless I missed it) so anything is possible.

But...I'll bow out allow you to assist him without interference from me...

If they only had one leg of the 240 going to the compressor it would not start nor run.

Several manufactures supply one leg through the windings to keep the oil heated.

Karuna; Did you wire the new fan and cap using the old schematic or the one on the side of the new fan motor ??