Oil Pressure

I have a 2003 TJ X with 103K, 4.0L, five speed and 35"tires. I went out yesterday to do a little playing around in some mud and some rocks. I ended up bailing off into a mud hole that was a little more challenging than I expected. Never turned the jeep off and I had a buddy (in a 4door Rubi) pull me out. I told him he couldn't make fun of me unless he could make it through…and of course he had to try! Needless to say he didn't make it ether, so, i had to pull him out. First, I tried hooking up my front to his rear and backing him out. 4high in reverse wasn't low enough gear, so, I put it in four low and gave it a whirl. After that I had my check gauges light come on and immediately saw the oil pressure gauge heading towards zero! So, I shut it down and began to look for leaks and check the oil. Everything looked fine (with the exception of mud everywhere). So, I started it back up. started fine, but i noticed that at idle the gauge wanted to go to zero and when I gave it a little throttle the pressure would come back up. I ended up turning around and pulling the Rubi out and after heard what sounded like lifter noise. So, I shut it down and checked it over again and still nothing stood out. I ended up starting it up (started a little rougher) and drove it about a mile before shutting it down and trailering it.



I'm going to have a mechanic that does work on the side look at it. So far he thinks it's a possible oil pump problem. What are your opinions?



Thanks for the help!