'03 F150 4.2 L V6 225k miles

bought this truck new and it has been very solid - lately a couple times driving along and oil pressure warning light comes on and oil pressure needle drops to zero (understood it is an idiot switch and not an actual gauge) one time was on the highway and I went to pull over and then it immediately went right back up and light went off. the other time on surface roads I shut it down then restarted and dash indicators were all normal. dipstick reads normal. about a year ago I did have an oil pump failure but caught it quickly and had it replaced. any thoughts on what this pattern indicates or how to go about troubleshooting?

 

First thing to do.... don't panic. Replace the oil pressure sending unit, then observe. My gut feel is that you'll be back to normal.

 

As above, as we believe it to be a sending unit problem, the easiest
item to do is to replace the sending unit, unless you have an oil
pressure gauge then you might want to check pressure manually.

Quick tidbit. Years ago a friend purchased a new Chevy 4x4 and on the way home from
the dealership the oil pressure light came on. He called, the dealership told him to drive
the truck back. He did and they needed to replaced the engine, wiped the out the bearings,
no oil pressure.