Major engine issue?

[Matt9712]

A little background on what happened. ... I was out riding around lake and the boat was running fine. About 20 min into trip it sounded really rough and vibrating excessively so i shut boat down. I smelled what I thought was burning rubber so checked belt which was fine and then saw some oil in bilge. I pulled dipstick and no oil showed on it. I got towed back to dock brought boat boat home. It took about 3.5 quarts to get back on dipstick I'm pretty sure it holds about 6 so it was low but not empty, not that it was good that way either. Had mechanic look at it, he fired it up it has a little knock. The crankshaft pulley was wobbling which appeared to be close to where oil is leaking. It appears to be leaking at timing chain cover. Also when boat is given a little throttle it smokes a lot right out of prop and is definitely an oil smell. He said it's engine oil burning at prop which means oil is somehow getting there. He checked the lower unit oil and that was full and seemed clean. He told me it appears to have major engine issues and might even need a new motor if the crankshaft broke and did more damage internally. But he said I should get a second opinion but as I just payed him over a $100 to tell me that I would hate to pay someone else again if that sounds right.
Sorry boat is a 2006 Four Winns Horizon 210 with a Volvo penta 5.7 Gi-f.
If a new motor sounds right seeing how it's a GM block would a regular Chevy 350 engine fit in its place? I know it should have a 1 for 1 swap but unfortunately I just spent all of my cash on this boat....which seems to have been a very bad move.
Thank you for any and all help

 

[Scott Danforth]

your motor is a GM 350. get a block from a 1996 or newer truck, pull the motor apart, replace the gaskets with marine gaskets, and install brass core plugs.

however you could have just lost the damper. you really need to troubleshoot the problem before throwing money and parts at it.

 

[Matt9712]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure what you mean by damper. Is there a damper that keeps engine oil out of the outdrive? Is possible to see without opening motor up or a test to see if that truly is the problem? I'm just going off what the boat mechanic told me. Seeing as I paid him I really wish he could've given me a more rock solid answer other than major engine issues and I should bring somewhere else to get a second opinion. ... Thanks again for your help

 

[Scott Danforth]

the damper is the big round thing on the front of the motor that the crank pulley is bolted to that you say is wobbling

when you need to pay someone vs turning wrenches yourself, you end up really paying. you pay for diagnostic work, you pay for service work, and you pay for repair work. The problem is that until they pull your motor, and start tearing into it to find exactly what is wrong, you wont have a definitive answer.

 

[Matt9712]

The vibration damper (harmonic balancer) is what your talking about right? I was lost before but I did look at that earlier. I had heard of them breaking into 2 pieces but mine appears to be whole.

 

[Matt9712]

Any chance this would be the a fit if the motor turns out to be trashed? Hopefully the link worked... Thanks again for all the help. Hopefully a new engine isn't needed but I am trying to look at it from all angles.

http://www.jegs.com/i/GM+Performanc...9&cadevice=c&gclid=CP_7t8Gz080CFcJahgodrNcGfA

 

[Dave-R]

Matt I think that engine is a pre-vortec engine. At only 195 hp. you would be sad. I know both jeggs, and summit racing have the 295hp vortecs for about 2000.00$
I buy the ones with the four bolt mains, (about a 100$ more}. I buy the long block, and put in the brass freeze plugs. Dave-R

 

[Silvertip]

And when the boat is ultimately repaired, did you learn the value of checking oil level before every trip?