Hi! I have two little girls, littermates. They are now almost 2yrs old and are both crate trained and pee pad trained.
It takes a while for potty training and crate training, you need to make the crate a nice cosy place and even then it will still take time. The crate must not be too big for him,otherwise he'll have accidents in his crate. Again it takes time and he will have little mistakes for a while. Food and water around here is never limited at any point in time. Mine are free fed and this works well for me.
Once he realizes that the crate is his little "den" area he will stop potting there.
Mine would give a little whimper if they had to potty and we would get them out right away to go potty and then back to bed. Don't let them play so that they know the only reason they are out is to potty and then straight back to bed.
Also our girls sleep in my sisters room with her and if they make a noise it is easier and quicker to get them out. Plus they feel safe in there. These guys like to be near people.
Also I gave our girls a stuffed animal at night ( which they used and still do like a pillow
) and a kong chew toy. I gave them a kong because they can not get pieces out of it and choke. So take care what kind of chew toy you give him at night.
Once he gets used to the idea he will find his crate a safe place and want to go in there all the time. Mine go to there crates if we have strangers such as a repair person in the house until they feel comfortable and they do this of their own accord.
It takes time for them to get crate trained, and potty trained so just be patient it's worth it.
I hope this helps
~Marly