electric problems with electric fan

[rwhite65]

Ok guys, it is a Taurus fan with a DC controller. The fan just plain quit working tonight. There are no fuses in this set-up, since the custom controller takes care of all that (as I understand).

The fan has been working great this season since install, but now the junk yard piece I think has crapped out. I pulled the harness apart tonight and saw that the ground butt connecters are partially melted. They have black dried/burnt plastic at the connection. Isn't this a sign that the electric motor was going bad, and pulling to much juice? Is there a way to test this motor with an OHM meter?
Unfortunately, electricity is not my strong point. I can say that the fan now makes a clicking noise when I spin it by hand, but does not seem to be loose like it would be if a bearing went bad. I plan on running the hot to the battery directly to eliminate the controller, but am 99% sure already that the controller is fine.

Just to clarify, the ground wires are plenty big, since I used the same gauge the fan used from the factory. The butt connectors I used are also pretty beefy....so I do not really think they are too small to get the job done successfully.
Thanks guys,
Ryan