Oil pump 96 Astro 298000 kms

Hey all,

The oil pressure gauge in my van has been dropping down to 0 and then going back up again for the last month and a half or so and since I couldn't afford to have the van worked on, I just hoped it was just a screwy gauge.

Yesterday the engine started knocking, so I'm assuming that the oil pump really is dead and I'm risking the engine if I keep driving it this way.

I can get a used pump for free, but I don't know where the oil pump is located or how difficult it is to swap out. I've been told that it MAY be in the oil pan itself but it may not, but that's all the info I've been given.

I'd greatly appreciate any help you can give with this. This is our only vehicle and funds are extremely limited so do-it-yourself is pretty much the only way to go.

Thanks in advance & happy holidays.

Steve

[edit] In case it's related, I should add that I've got kind of a strange intermitent acceleration problem; every so often, I lose acceleration, almost as if I've taken my foot off the gas, but then things return to normal. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for this; it happens when I'm taking off from a stop and when I'm driving along at speed. It happens when I'm driving slowly around town and when I'm doing 100km/hr on the highway.

I wouldn't think oil pressure would effect acceleration like this, but my knowledge with this kind of thing is pretty limited.