oil pressure drops to 0 from 30 erratically at idle

[autoa]

99 Dodge 1500 with 318 with 168,000 miles. I searched for this issue and have read many similar problems but mine is slightly different.
At 160,000 miles, after warmup, at idle, oil pressure drops from about 40 pounds to zero instantly. Occasionally while idling it will pop back up to 40 lbs for a few seconds then back to zero. There are no noises, knocks or taps coming from the engine, it idles and sounds perfect. As soon as I accelerate the pressure goes to 40 and stays there. The oil has been changed religiously at 4 to 5000 miles since new. Any suggestions?

[fredjacksonsan]

We've owned several of the 5.2 engines, and oil pressure fluctuations occur at higher mileage.

You can test your pressure sensor and gauge to make sure they're working correctly (I'm not the electronics guy to tell you how) or replace the oil pump to see if that corrects the issue.

[TRINI55]

i will replace the oil sending unit first