My 86 duke was running fine, let my boy take it to work this past week, tonight I drove it to work and on the way home for lunch I look in the mirror and there's fire coming out from under the hood. I was close enough to home I killed the engine, coasted into the driveway, ran and got a pale of water and dumped on it. took a couple to put out but man...Looks like the wire harness burnt from what I could see. Have to wait till the morning to what what damage was done, I'd guess it was on fire for a minute and a half. I guess an engine swap is in order for it.

Shh... Quiet.

Need pics of the damage. Might help identify the culprit.

Its always the Dukes, isn't it? A short while ago, I saw an old Buick (maybe an Olds) on the side of the road burned down from the engine bay back - it was old enough to have had a Duke, but I'm not sure of the exact model (damage was quite extensive).

the 84-86 dukes seem to have the worst problems around the wiring harnesses and exhaust manifolds. I have pulled parts off of a lot of them and although I have not seen a lot that have caught fire, a vast majority of them have wiring harnesses cooked so badly that the plastic coating on each individual wire is crumbling away. I have seen this on the starter wiring and the main wiring harness coming out of the bulkhead, and that is after the plastic cover tube has melted away entirely too.

glad you and ther car are safe though

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Oil leaks from the valve cover too are an issue. The silicone gave up on may sealed at the factory and the oil runs down onto the exhaust manifold. I have even seen other cars with this same engine have the same problem. Jus the air coming in the grill keep it from catching.

Consider that your fuel lines, seals, gaskets and other parts on your engine are 22-27 years old. Unfortunately they were not designed to last forever. As any car gets older the chances of an engine fire greatly increase.

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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 "

Sorry I've been awat. I finally got to take a look at it. Still cranks up and runs! No oil to be seen anywhere, level is good. My ride home from work is 3 miles, so this happened and it wasn't even warmed up yet. My question, half way home I noticed my temp gauge was pegged way out, and I was like WTH, then realized my key was still in the crank position. Rotated back to on position and temp gauge went to normal, about half way warmed up. Could the key being stuck in the crank position cause the wires to overheat?
Looks like just the wire harness is burnt, actually both harnesses coming out of the firewall. Alot of exposed wires, but everything seems to be working ok. Cranks, runs, all gagues work, lights etc..Didn't get a chance to take photos yet.

Jim

Yep the key in the crank position would do it. Maybe pine neddles an leaves on the manifold? I've had two or three fires because of leaves.