Hello, Ive owned an 89 2wd dakota for over 5 years now and havnt had one thing go wrong until my starter last week, no big deal, but as im sittin here at work waiting to go home and tear into it, I find a 94 4x4 club cab with 318 magnum. Check it out, instantly love it and get it for a great price, now i expect to have to do some work but after the hour ride home, (keep in mind it had been sittin for a bit, unsure how long) I pull in the driveway and the oil pressure gauge drops, light comes on and freaked me out a little, I shut it off, started it and backed up, pressure seemed fine until stopped at idle. I have a few ideas myself but always like to get others opinions on best place to start first and so on. I have and never will let my vehicles see an auto shop so any help/suggestions would be great. Ive only had it a few days now so i havnt really had a chance to look it over yet.
Thanks

 

connect a known good mechanical gauge in place of the electric and verify what pressure is.
electric gauge sender is next to distributor and a bit tight to get to.

 

I would change the oil, and check. If it is at idle there is a chance the oil pump may be going out. It would be good though to not run the truck too much until you hook up a mechanical gauge and test it. Check the FSM in the FAQ, there should be a section on testing oil pressure.