If it was not for bad luck I would have none at all!

well.....as alot of you may know, the last 5 or 6 months have been really tough financially ,we have had to make alot of sacrifices,sell alot of our stuff,move,and so on. And we have a little girl on the way also ...so we have been trying to get prepared for that venture on top of already having one son.

things have recently ....slowly....been starting to stable out (not all better....but getting there)....my wife just picked up a seasonal job to help make ends meet until she finishes all of her CNA testing and finds a job in that field.

well......just caught another low blow about a half an hour ago.

I took our jeep to the gas station that is 3 miles up the road (our only vehicle).....came to an intersection and was waiting for some cars to go by before I went.....at which time I hear a "CHIME".....I look down and see the check gauges light on and seen that there was NO oil pressure at all......so I limped the jeep the 1/8th mile up the road the rest of the way to the gas station. I checked the oil and it was right on the full mark. under the oil cap was a light grey sludge.

I had no overheating issues.....it was dark out so I did not see if there was any smoking but I don't think there was.
no knocking had developed either.

at an idle it has no oil pressure what so ever and the check gauges light comes on.......however....if I put my foot on the gas and keep the rpms at roughly 1500 rpms and higher I can get 40 psi and it will maintain it ...so long I keep my foot on the gas....but if I let of the gas and let it idle ...the oil pressure will flat line again.

so I kept one foot on the brake and the other on the gas to keep the RPM's high enough to maintain oil pressure long enough to get it back home.

the jeep has ran great all along and with no warning signs prior to this happening...the oil was just changed about 400-500 miles ago (with the specified viscosity oil....and I used quaker state oil on it ( I have used it MANY times and never had any problems) ....not some no name gas station oil or anything like that) I also use Mopar brand oil filters.

so I was hoping maybe someone might have experience with these jeeps and similar problems or know if this is a common problem? its a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with the 4.7l V8 and has 111,000 miles. and has been well maintained.

I am sure whatever it is....its not going to be "cheap" or "easy" ....as I am guessing I am going to have to rip into the engine....I need to do a little more diagnosing before I can pinpoint what the cause is and to know just exactly how extensive the amount of work is I have ahead of me.

I would say im looking at popping the pan off and changing out the oil pump and maybe cleaning out the pickup screen and doing new gasket and fluids and so on......but the sludge im seeing is making me think there is more to it and I might be looking at ripping the top end apart also.

I can not afford it right now and my wife is probably going to lose her new job being that now she has no way to get there....and plates and insurance are due soon and christmas is right around the corner and our new baby soon after that.

my wife always says "don't worry things will get better" and just when it seems like maybe they will.......things get worse again.

sorry for venting guys....I know others out there have it worse than us....but it still does not stop our current situation from sucking any less.

so anyways.......any help anyone can offer that will point me in the right direction or any experience with these particular vehicles/engines and knowledge of similar common problems would be appreciated.

I am sure I will eventually figure it out on my own....but until I get the chance to take a really good look at it....I figured i would ask you guys here and maybe make it a little easier to pinpoint my problem if I know where to look first.

thanks in advance guys!