97 Tahoe Oil Pressure Issue

[DougA]

Hi All,newbie here,looking for help.I had a sudden loss of oil pressure in my 97 Tahoe,135k miles.Noticed at idle the check gauges light would come on,oil pressure showed less than 10 psi,driving down the road,20psi.New sender,same deal,master gauge test confirmed the low pressure.35 when started cold,but 20 driving when warm.Changed oil and filter,no difference.Like a dummy,I threw the filter out without cutting it open.Ran the engine another hour or so,removed filter and opened it,several very,very small chunks of metal,pinhead size,(magnetic).The odd thing is the week before this happened,I changed the distributor in the car with a new cheapie replacement trying to fix an unrelated wet weather start problem.I've checked the dimensions of both distributors,they are the same,but I find it odd this oil problem happens so soon after the change.Car has had Mobil One syn its whole life.Anyone have any ideas what went south here?Thanks

 

[Freedom Motorsports]

Welcome to the neighborhood!

I would take the distributor out and check it out, then you will know where you stand.

 

[DougA]

Checked distributor ok,even put old one back in,no difference.

 

[SunlitComet]

It is possible the dizzy did not seat on the oil pump properly and the pump may have not run for a bit. if the new dizzy came back out with out any damage on pump drive and gears your pressure relief valve on the pump may have been sticking far open and at any rate the particle may be your bearing material being chopped up as a result of pressure problems.