Boris wrote in
09.88:

snip

He suspected that the compressor was heating up because it was old and
taking lots of attempts from the starter capacitor to get it started.
All the failed attempts, he said, would overheat the compressor. So,
he installed a 'kick starter' kit, and it started right up
(coincidence?), and began to cool the house. Not sure I buy this kick
starter thing, but I kept the old starter/relay in case. He left, but
within 15 minutes, the fan and compressor stopped. I called and he
came right back. This time, he said the one thing he didn't check was
the fan.

snip

This looks like the kick starter kit...it was a capacitor and a relay.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/omhmtnl