im trying to learn as much as i can as quick as i can. Thats why im looking to buy a blown motor, to take it apart, and put it back together again ...

 

This is more or less what I am getting at, wether or not you know how to hack your stock harness or not (I worked as an electronics tech for a while and I didn't like the idea of it for my V-AFC) isn't something I would take lightly and as far as checking fuses thats definetly one of the first things you should check, and to prevent this just disconnect the - side of the battery, or pay someone to install it in the first place. Honestly if it was me running the shop and I knew that you had hacked the harness or your friend or whatever I prolly would have told you to take it elsewhere just because of how much harder it would be (and not profitable) to troubleshoot something that was hacked and put back together.