I have a 1997 Trane XE 1200 Heat Pump. We had a heavy snowfall this week and the indoor twin 25A circuit breaker tripped. I tried to reset the breaker but it instantly trips (won't even latch momentarily).

I removed the top/fan assembly and are checking thr capacitors and other circuits. I am measuring ~1.6 ohm across R to C terminal on the compressor. That seemd very low even for a inductive load of a heat pump compressor. Can anyone tell me what typical DC resistance measurements are for a Trane heat pump compressor? Thanks in advance.

Check resistance from R to ground, C to ground, S to ground on the compressor. If the wires are removed from the compressor and you check from compressor post and detect a ground the compressor is bad. It's a process of elimination.