Approximately how many miles can the iron duke last? (Not counting things such as water pumps, alternators, etc...)

a billion...

no, I'm serious... My wife had a Skyhawk with 195,000 miles on it, not sure what work was done on the engine (or what else was replaced) to have it last that long, but it ran pretty darn well...

Not 22r good. But they will run forever. Only flaw is the timing gears.

its pretty hard to stop one, i guess mine had like 200,000 on it when i pulled it but that was just because i was doing a 3800sc swap. i dont even think you need oil in those. i have heard of some with 300 thousand but idk

its funny you said that. when I resurrected my 86 duke that sat for a few years with a no start problem, the oil pan was rotted and all the oil seeped out. I was unaware of this and fixed the no start and fired it up and ran it for about 5 minutes with no oil until it died. Filled it back up with oil and it fired right back up and ran like a champ.

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quote Originally posted by kawana: a billion...

Agreed . The only concern to have is whether when an engine overheats so much it warps the block or seizes without oil otherwise forever.

quote Originally posted by Thunderkingben: its pretty hard to stop one, i guess mine had like 200,000 on it when i pulled it but that was just because i was doing a 3800sc swap. i dont even think you need oil in those. i have heard of some with 300 thousand but idk

x2 ...........

Mine was at 225,000 and still running when I pulled it for my 3800SC.

My '86 Duke is about to turn 200K and it still runs like a champ. The only reason it's not running now is for a rear main seal and clutch.

yeah, a billion's about right.

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"Be not led astray, bretheren beloved..." -James 1:16.


Thanks, Danyel, for the graphic.

Rick Mahoney turned a tad over 500,000 miles on his 88 Duke before he finally had to change a timing gear. As far as I know the car is still going.

I had a family member who had an 87 Fiero coupe with the duke. Timing gears died around 92K. After the fix, the engine died at about 95K, massive blow-by from at least one of the cylinders. The car was bought with 36K on it, so I suspect that either the original owner failed to maintain it, or the shop that did the gears messed something up causing a catastrophic failure somewhere.

I think that if they are never overheated with any sort of decent oil change schedule, 300000 isn't impossible at all

My 87 Duke recently crossed the 200k mile mark, and is sitting at 200,2XX. Still runs fine, although around 198,000 it started developing a valve tick once the engine warms up. The valve tick usually begins after 10 minutes of driving, and only during engine deceleration and low rpm acceleration.

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88 GT T-Top 5-spd #338 of 1252
87 SE 4-cyl 5-spd sunroof, spoiler, performance sound
85 2M4 base coupe T-Top 5-spd, rackless decklid, 15-in 88 GT rims, aero-conversion

My wifes old Cutlass affectionately called "Stumpy" had a Duke engine but it was the 110 or 115 Hp version. . She ran that car for 140K miles and finally sold it to buy something more modern. That was 5 years ago and the cousin that she sold it to is still driving the car daily. With regular driving you just can't kill those things.

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" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, 3.4" Pulley, N* TB, LS1 MAF, Flotech Exhaust Autolite 104's Custom CAI 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

I just bought an '87 with 90K on it and it needs a valve job. bummer!

Jonathan

The Dukes will last a long time if they're not abused. The main "gotchas" are the timing gears and belt tensioner assembly, and on the '88-up models, the oil pump / balancer assembly. Also, the cylinder heads have a tendency to crack when overheated.

i had a 84 fiero about 10 years ago and drove it daily for 7 years. it had 120,00 on it when i bought it. when it died it had 368,234 miles on it. the head gasket went. never changed the following in all those miles, timing gears water pump tbi vacumun lines or fuel lines map sensor relays switches. at the end everytrhing started to go. on the day it died it drank 2 cases of oil and about 15 gals of water to go 42 miles. so those who say fieros are junk kiss my %#)(^. LONG LIVE THE IRON DUKE!!!!!!!

quote Originally posted by pete 2m4: i had a 84 fiero about 10 years ago and drove it daily for 7 years. it had 120,00 on it when i bought it. when it died it had 368,234 miles on it. the head gasket went. never changed the following in all those miles, timing gears water pump tbi vacumun lines or fuel lines map sensor relays switches. at the end everytrhing started to go. on the day it died it drank 2 cases of oil and about 15 gals of water to go 42 miles. so those who say fieros are junk kiss my %#)(^. LONG LIVE THE IRON DUKE!!!!!!!

American Engineering at it's finest... Very simple construction = longer life/easier maintenance.

quote Originally posted by 87antuzzi: Not 22r good. But they will run forever. Only flaw is the timing gears.

#^&$*%^(%#&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

206k and my timing gear went. The motor ran like a champ then just died. Grrrrrr....

Now I need metal gears, a place to work on it, and time.

several yrs back bought a 85 grand am brand new with the duke in it. it went 192k and we sold it. car still was running well. and although i maintained it very well i did abuse it. all i can say is it is a good little engine.

I have had bad luck with dukes. 84's 86's and an 88.

Everything from from piston centers collapsing, oil pump drive shafts sheering the pin for the drive gear, Head cracking, Crank snapping...mind you these were all cars that had changed hands a few times and maintenance records weren't available.

But i have met a lof of people who have gotten 150k, 200k+ and one guy who swore he was 295k with no rebuilds.

Some of the 84's blew up with only a few thousand miles when they were new, but over all I have heard if maintained properly it is a real solid and dependable motor.

the aurora 4.0 is known to be just as reliable and last just as long as the mighty duke.

" iron Duke Lifespan" will be significantly shortened by repeated use of high revs (4,500+)