Do the pistons and valves look ok?

[chohomages]

I'm in the process of replacing the water pump, oil pump, and timing components on a 2016 Explorer Platinum. My wife mentioned she smelled burning oil when she got out of the car, and when I crawled underneath, I found coolant dye everywhere. It doesn't appear to have been leaking for long—the coolant level was just barely below the low mark, and it never overheated.

While waiting on the oil pump to arrive, I figured I'd go looking for problems where they might not exist and ran a borescope down the spark plug holes of each cylinder. All but two cylinders had enough clearance for me to articulate the camera back up to view the valves. In cylinders 2 and 6, I noticed a small grain of something I couldn’t identify. The valves in cylinder 6 also show a pattern that the others do not. That might just be due to lighting differences, but I’m not sure.

It's possible the debris fell in after I removed the plugs, but I’m also wondering if it might be a piece of something internal that broke off—hoping someone here might recognize it.

I don’t have enough experience looking at pistons and valves to know if anything I’m seeing is cause for concern. I'm really hoping to get this buttoned up and squeeze another 100K out of the engine.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[Rick]

I deleted the link to Imgur. There were no photos there that related to your question.

 

[chohomages]

I deleted the link to Imgur. There were no photos there that related to your question.

Man, that's odd. I got them added to the original post.

 

[peterk9]

If you suspect a faulty water pump, have you checked the oil on the dipstick to see if it has a milky colour? If it is, then the coolant mixed with the oil.
Sorry, I have no experience with pistons and valves.. How many miles are on the vehicle?

Peter

 

[Rick]

The bits of debris between the piston and cylinder wall could very well be from removing the spark plugs or manipulating the camera. Carbon can accumulate at the base of the plug and removing the plug can dislodge small amounts of carbon.

The weird swirls on the exaust valve is not something I've seen before. As long as the piston looks ok in that cylinder I wouldn't worry about it.

A couple marks look "fresh" as if the camera scratched the carbon on the piston top. Could be that the camera caused the marks on the exaust valve as well.