where is the oil pump
 

getting ready to replace the oil pump. please tell me that when i remove to oil pan on my 2001 xj that i will be staring at the oil pump or is it somewhere else on the motor. while we are on the topic please allow me to run this by yall. My oil pressure dropped for the 100th time the other day while sitting at a redlight. normally this is because i have slacked off and let the oil level get to low but a quart later and we are in business till the next oil change. however, this time i got home and checked the oil level and its full. yet nearly every time i sit idle the oil pressure drops to 0. Once the rpms go up the pressure goes up. Am i safe in assuming the pump is going out.

Could be as simple as a bad sending unit/electrical connection. A shop can easily verify oil pressure......or lack of.

Yep. Remove the pan and you will be staring at it. It will become painfully obvious when you get all oily trying to get the pan off around the pick up tube hanging off the pump.

A new oil pump will NOT fix a low oil pressure problem. Low oil pressure is caused by excessive clearances in the bearings. Oil pumps make the oil flow, they do not make pressure. The tight clearances (1 and half to 3 thousands of an inch) make pressure. If you look you will notice oil pumps are rated in GPM (gallons per minute), not PSI.

ok just asked my dad about this, u are partially correct. while throwing a stock replacement pump back in the motor wont do anything to help the problem, u can do 2d things.

1. upgrade the pump that is already in there
2. get a pump that has a higher pressure rating

if ur guna just upgrade the stock pump. u have to do a few things.
first, after getting it out of the block, disassemble and clean in up
after that, u want to check the plate and gears for scratch/chips, basically any sort of damage.
if there is NO damage to the pump, check the spring to see if it still feels like it should.
now here is were the upgrade comes in, now when putting the spring back in, throw 1 or 2 washers in behind the spring and just before the roll pin. that helps the pump create more pressure. now it may NOT be a sure 100% fix to your problem but it should help a little, if it doesnt then u either have to add another washer, or rebuild the motor

hope it helps alittle

My normal PSI was about 40. Now that I have a new oil pump, it sits around 60.

It only proves the pump is flowing more oil, and I bet you changed the oil at the time of the pump replacement too. You try and push more oil through the same restriction as before, the oil pressure will go up, but merely slapping a new pump on because a total loss of oil pressure is only curing a symptom, not the cause. 9 time out of 10 if the gauge is reading erratic and low, a new sending unit will fix the problem. But if you happen to run the engine out of oil to the point of hearing noises an engine should not make, you have more problems than a new oil pump will fix. Oil pumps rarely fail, they're rather simple gear rotor pumps that are always sitting in oil, it's the other parts that fail and end up damaging the pump.

Welp, mine failed.