RE: PO'd with Yamaha
What model are you talking about? The belt cases are really tight on Yamahas and if ya did get water in there and left it- thats what probobly fried your drive. (There's a drain plug, check your manual.)
As for the skid plate, I beleive that there is some thread locker on the 3 or 4 mounting bolts. Did you re-apply some more? If a pice of aluminum gets loose it can crack. Did yours get loose somehow? Cause that's weird with it cracking.