Heh. You're welcome for that insight.

 

my oil pressure gauge works when it wants to also.... sometimes it bounces sometimes it sits at 0 sometimes it works....

 

This is a good question, if you have a good aftermarket gauge, is they're any reason to see low oil pressure? Besides a bad pump?

 

a leak in the high pressure side of the system can cause oil pressure to drop, the regulator or relief valve could fail but thats very rare. theres also the thermopellet / eccentric bypass which can fail and stay in bypass mode.



the front cover O ring is prone to squeezing out causing low oil pressure. you also have the oil pump like you said, if it's worn out it won't work well. The drive mechanism for the oil pump can fail (broken chain?) i was helping IoTuS over AIM the other day with his car and apparently the key for the oil pump drive gear pushed out when he installed it, he had low oil pressure when he started the engine. The gear was just spinning freely on the shaft, be careful with those keys when assembling



don't forget the clearances of the bearings, if the clearances are too large lots of oil will escape reducing the pressure, engines that have been built for high revving with large clearances need upgraded oil pumps to maintain the high pressure needed.

 

The stock gauge is junk, it used to worry me too.