Busted Oil Pump?

[SAM2612]

Ok, I have a 96 Ford Windstar with 100,000 miles on it. This van has been a lemon from the beginning. The transmission went out at 10,000 miles and had to be totally rebuilt, then speedometer went out, the temperature gauge went out, the door ajar alarm is stuck, and so on.
Ok, so a little history. It's pretty much a lemon, and is not driven all that frequently. It can often sit for awhile between use. So, over the holiday's I was on the highway when I noticed the oil pressure light was on. I had just had the oil changed earlier that week so I thought that was odd. I was only a few miles from home so I figured maybe it was a little low and would check it when I got home. My instrument panel also has a tendency to go bad, so I considered the possibility that it may have been a false alarm. About a mile later I got off the highway and came to a light. When I pulled off the engine began to click and knock very hard as if there was no oil in it at all. So I quickly pulled over and shut down. My first thought was "Oh no, the oil filter or drain plug has popped off". So I raised the hood, pulled the dipstick, and to my amazement the oil read full. So I figure it's got to be the Oil Pump. I had the car towed back home and am pondering what to do about it. Hopefully the engine is not ruined. There was no smoke or foul odor, so I think it is still good. I may have been very lucky in this sense, cause my uncle told me a story back in the day when he was speeding in his high compression V8 Camaro and the oil pumped failed, and his valve heads quickly burned up. Anyway,
Has anyone experienced this problem in a Windstar before, could it be something else other than the oil pump, and what should I do about it. Are there any good options other than the dealer?
Thanks for any info,

[Astrojim]

I had same problem with my 98, 3.8 Winstar. The oil pump screen was completely blocked with sludge, don't know why. mabee caused by maintenance practices of former owner I wound up replacing the engine, due to bearing damage. Happened shortly after I bought it.

[firemedic]

I have experienced the same prob on '95 windstar w/3.8. Twice. Changed oil on first occurance and the oil press light went out. The second time the light did not go out and the valves clattered when started. I relaced the oil pump gears in the oil filter housing w/out any luck. You have to pull the engine in order to replace the bypass valve in the timing cover so I'm told. Tried the next best thing and cleaned the pick up tube. This fixed the oil supply problem but now I have too much crankcase pressure causing oil to blow out dipstick tube. If anyone can help w/ this new prob it would be appreciated.