Compressor won't start up ...Ideas?

Hey guys, I have this old HarborFreight pancake 2hp compressor I bought 15 years ago. It gets minimal use, nails, pumping tires. once a month, max. Anyhow lately it won't start, it tries for a few seconds then it stalls and will blow the breaker. If I shut it down before the breaker blows, I can turn on/off 10 times in a row and finally it will continue to run and have no problems...until a few weeks later when I try to start it again.
It has oil, though it has to be years old. It is either going in the trash, or can I try anything to try to fix it?