1988 ram van b250 oil pump

i recently received this van from a friend who couldnt take care of it. its not in that great of condition but im trying to fix it up. the original owner told my friend that it needed a new oil pump. i'm trying to find one and i'm having trouble. any suggestions on where to get one would help. also if there is anything else i need to get along with that oil pump, and an idea on how to replace it. thanks for the help.

matt

Advance Auto Parts Melling brand p/n M72

NAPA p/n COP6011083

You will need oil, filter, oil pan gasket, and patience. The engine needs to be jacked up a few inches in order to remove the oil pan. You will also need to re-use the oil pickup assembly that screws into the oil pump...this needs to cleaned thoroughly as well.

I suggest getting a shop manual preferrably a FACTORY service manual, which you can find on Ebay from time to time.

Why does the original owner say it needs an oil pump...what problems was he having?

ummm i never rode in it when it ran but my friend said that it ran like it was metal on metal no oil in the engine even when he had just put oil in it so yeah.

Hmmmm

I'm not going to tell you not to put a new pump in, but generally when the engine starts to knock because of oil starvation it's too late and the engine is junk. It doesn't take long for the rod and crank bearings to be ruined. I could be totally wrong in this case, but normally this is what happens.