cummins N14

What do yall think about the cummins N14. I am looking at a 97 IH truck with that engine. I like the old NT series big cams but I dont know much about the N14. It is electronic.Any insight would be great. Thanks.

If you like the old NTC series you'll love an N-14.Bought a NTC 350 new in 1976 drove it till 1998,almost 2 million miles,good engine.Bought an N-14 500 then.Same bore and stroke,same basic design but is better in all aspects.It will truly go a million before overhauls and increased mpg will pay for itself over the NTC.One of the best class 8 engines ever in my opinion.

Like the old, but even better. I went from a Formula to an N14. Starts better and has more low end torque.
Just check it over the same as you would the old ones...
There's differences between them but really it's just the next series revision of the old engine. Same bore/stroke, etc.

Rod

Do they have trouble with the electronics? Or is the electronics pretty minimal on those engines?

They're fully electronic, but are mostly troublefree.
If everyone made electrics to the Celec standards there'd be few problems with electronic engines.
Buy it. You won't look back unless you just buy a plain worn out engine...

Rod

I worked for Cummins Power Generation. Never heard any thing bad about that engine. All the truck techs I knew loved the thing.

I owned a 95 KW with a Detroit and got a lot of miles out of it.I think 500 thousand in 4 years.I bought a 96 KW with a N-14 and got better fuel mileage,ran the truck over a million miles and only put one 400 dollar electronic injector in it.I could pass Detroits on mountains and mine was only 450 horsepower with the cruise on.Then I bought a 98 KW with a N-14 that had the red valve covers and liked it real well.The only downfall is the electronics.There are places where you can buy a refurbished computer now for I think 900 dollars.The injectors are costly and you about have to take it somewhere like Cummins or a shop that has trained computer people to check it out and get it running right.The one truck had a bad injector in lots of miles,but it was used when I bought the truck and in the service record had trouble with that injector before.Other than some wiring harnesses to the cruise control that I had to replace a few times and of course a few sensors that cost 225 dollars that went out about once a year on both trucks,I didnt have any trouble.I tried to work on it myself since I went to Cummins overhaul school in the 1980s and worked on them for about 10 years so I knew somewhat how to work on them,but after that I just took it to the shop.I spent maybe 4 or 5 thousand over about 5 years on having a shop fix the electronic stuff.Usually it was a wiring harness or a connection,or it would get to running rough and I would get the valves and injectors set and usually fix it.Mine didnt like the new fuel and lost a little fuel mileage on the thin stuff.If you can save about 5 thousand dollars back just in case you have an electric problem,and can find a shop that wont rip you off,I wouldnt hesitate to buy a N-14.They have more power,less problems,and get 1 1/2 miles to the gallon better than an old 400 Cummins.You especially want an overdrive transmission even if its a 9 or 10 speed,because the N-14 has the power to pull and the overdrive transmission will help your mileage.My truck with the red valve covers got a little worse mileage but had more horsepower.It still got better than the Detroit and the Detroit was good for its age.There was a lot of difference between the Cummins and Detroit.The Detroit supposedly had more power,but I could pull a mountain a whole gear higher with the Cummins which is at least 5 mph faster.Sometimes 2 gears higher.The Cummins has more torque.Ive driven Cats too,and the Cummins would get better fuel mileage than the Cat,on a long hill it would maybe out pull the Cat,if not it would be close.The fuel mileage on its own would make the Cummins better because the savings over time would add up to a bunch.Plus If I remember right a Cat motor costed more to begin with.I know of 2 Cummins N-14 personally that went a million and over miles without much trouble.Had the head off of the Red valve cover motor last fall and there was very little ring groove.The N-14 sleeves must be made of harder material or something.Also niether one of my Cummins used much oil.My Detroit used a gallon every day or 2.The Cummins usually didnt take a gallon until about 5000 miles or every couple of weeks.The first one I had would go 10000 miles without adding any for quite a while until I got a bunch of miles on it.

As I said I bought mine in 98 used,it's a 95 Red Head 500.I've replaced 3 injectors,2 sensors,and a water pump.Wouldn't trade this engine for a new one.Plus it's the first engine I ever had cruise control on,I'm an old fart and I love it.

You can"t go wrong with the N14 in my book. I"ve worked on Macks, Cats, Detroits,older Cummins and if I had to drive and work on my own engine, the N14 is a piece of cake. You"ve got three separate heads that can be removed by one person and electrical failures are rare. Biggest thing is sometimes the computer will just die. I"ve worked at a Navistar/IH dealership for almost 8 1/2 years and thy"re tough to beat. You might not get quite as good MPG as the Detroit, but ease of and lower costs to maintain it will overcome that in my book.

Thanks for all the info guys. I think I am going to give her a try.