bought van a couple of months ago. oil chnge from previous owner only had about 2000 miles but van was sitting without being started or driven for 5-6 years. while driving van oil pressure gauge turned red and oil pressure went to 0. pulled over and checked oil. level was fine(1/2 qt low). restarted engine and oil pressure was fine til i got back to highway speed then happened again. when stepped on the brake oil went back to normal but when i accelerated again red light and 0 pressure. changed oil and filter and the problem went away. about 1000 miles or so later and after van set in my driveway for about 2 weeks. issue returned,but after a few miles it went away. checked oil while getting fuel,(1/2 quart low again) about 2 miles from my home pressure issue returned. pulled over shut off engine and restarted after few seconds and pressure normal. issue returned during acceleration but could not get gauge to show normal pressure again as before. drove remaining mile or so home. during previous times was able to drive several miles with no ill effects to engine as would you would expect with 0 oil pressure. we were thinking at that time maybe bad or clogged sender. but this time not so lucky.

Any help?

 

Is the engine making any different noises when the light comes on?

If so, perhaps the pan is filled with crud, which occasionally gets lodged in the screen on the pick up tube blocking flow. Stopping the engine allows it to fall off the screen and pressure to read normal again until the next instance

If not, check the wiring for the sender

 

Sounds like you may have a bad oil sender, but you should figure out where you are loosing oil from and eliminate that issue.

 

Not losing much oil considering van has 200,000+ miles, only 1 1/2 quarts in 1000+ miles. When I started after a couple days,(still only 1/2 quart low) immediate red light, 0 pressure and engine sounds like not getting oil. I shut it off IMMEDIATELY!

Sounded REALLY BAD!

 

Figured in the beginning that crud in the pan was the issue. That's why we changed the oil. Also after draining the oil put in some diesel/kerosene(a gallon) and turned over a couple with coil disconnected to flush out crud. Drained again changed filter and put in bottle of Rislone and 10w30 oil. Problem only happened once right after oil change then not again til this time.

Sender and wiring were checked when problem first occured, and checked out fine.

Engine didn't change sounds until latest occurrence.

 

Is it possible to change the oil pump without pulling the engine?

 

Yes, pull the oil pan off and it's right there at the back of the engine.