Wash my engine? Seriously?
A customer recently asked us how often he should wash his engine. His feeling was that it didn’t ever need to be washed, since no one ever saw it.
That’s not true, though. You might not ever see your engine, but your auto repair technician does. We sometimes spend a fair amount of time cleaning dirt and oil from engines, delaying our work and reducing our effectiveness. We do this because on a clean motor, it is much easier to spot leaks, cracks and wear. With an extremely dirty motor, it is hard to spot damage, whether we’re looking for a specific problem or just doing an inspection. Dirt hides many of these problems. In extreme cases, heavy dirt buildup could aggravate overheating problems.
We’d recommend a good engine wash twice a year, although once a year would do for most people. Many car washes do this as a service and prices vary. We are familiar with J’s Ultimate Hand Car Wash in Garden City and recommend them, but any full-service car wash should be able to provide a good engine wash. 
Now this is a dirty engine!