another stator burnt

[jvalhenson]

pulled the flywheel to check out the stator while replacing the rectifier on my 1998 225 ocean pro and found it burnt again so as I figured we would have to do gotta replace another stator. Something is obviously burning the stator and recitifier up as this is the 2nd time we have had both parts go bad. We replaced both parts in Feb 2010. Made a few trips in the spring last year before the oil spill and of course at that point the boat just sat for a while and then made a few trips in the fall. Those along with the few have made this year prob doesnt come to more than about 15 trips or so with under 15 hours total running time with the new stator and rectifier and both are already out. All the wires are in good shape and all connections to the battery and all are good...nothing loose, nothing damaged and nothing corroded. However I did find another problem that I feel could be causing this problem. Noticed there was a little more residue on the top than there should be and after we got the flywheel off found the crank case cap to be very loose which of course was leaking. One of the screws had actually backed all the way out and was down in the bottom of the motor but all were loose and it was moving a good bit..prob a 1/4 inch. Obviously this has to be fixed in itself but I am thinking that this could hae been the problem with the stator and rectifier to begin with. The stator fo course mounts to the crankcase cap so what I am thinking is with the cap loose like that could the stator have been loosing its ground causing it to burn a coil? As Isaid all the wires/connections/batteries are good but something has to be causing this. I guess it could be that just got a dud part but I feel like it is much more likely that something is causing this to happen. I am hoping that replacing the seal and o-ring on the crankcase cap and tightening it back down will stop this just not sure it could be the problem. Any ideas on what else could causing the shorts? I had a few bad wires on the bilge and live well pumps but I dont think they could have caused it.....seems like it could only be a wire that is right there directly related to the stator/rectifier.