We know that rebuilding your engine is a time consuming and expensive process. And that's not even mentioning the profits you lose when your engine is out of commission.

WHEN DOES YOUR N14 NEED A REBUILD?

Like with any engine, there are a few things that indicate it's time for a rebuild. You might notice oil consumption, lack of power, or you just might have a million miles on the engine.

There are some things to watch out for on the N14, specifically. This engine was first produced in 1991, and they've been one of the most popular engines for years.

Some of these engines now have 20-30 years on them, and we're starting to see some common problems pop up.

FIRE RINGS ON YOUR N14

With the N14, a lot of times we see a blown head gasket causing issues. It's important to know, though, that in many cases you can't just replace the head gasket and call it good. It's likely that the fire rings are also bad.

A fire ring is a small groove machined into the cylinder head around each combustion chamber. A stainless steel ring is inserted into the groove.

This ring acts as an additional seal around the combustion chamber, and ensures greater reliability when operating under stressful conditions.

CHECK THE CLEARANCES AROUND YOUR BEARINGS

When you're overhauling your N14, it's important to check the clearances around your bearings. If you don't, you can not only lose the overhaul you just did, but you also risk failure in your crankshaft and your block.

You can check these clearances by using a plastic gauge, which is a small piece of plastic that you lay across the bearing journal. Then, you bolt everything together with the bearing on the crank.

That piece of plastic is going to squish down when you tighten everything. When you take it apart, you measure how wide the plastic squished—the wider it is, the less clearance there is.

If you don't measure your oil clearance, you run the risk of putting the wrong size bearings in your engine. This can lead to excessive oil clearance and problems in your N14 down the road.

REPLACE YOUR PISTON COOLING NOZZLES DURING AN OVERHAUL

While you're overhauling your engine, it's also a good idea to take a look at your piston cooling nozzles. We recommend that you replace them every time.

They're made out of plastic and are fairly inexpensive components, but they're critical in keeping the bottom of the piston cool.

If you have a failure with a broken piston nozzle, you might notice low oil pressure or an overheating piston.