Chris- I am going to go out and pull a cover now and take a look. If it is sludge and caused my pump to go out, can the sludge be removed or is the engine toast? If it can be removed, I will do that and work through repairing the pump. My Rover doesn't have a dash gauge for oil pressure so I would have to get a gauge to test it.

 

Off the top of my head, best way is to park with the nose on a slight incline. Remove the expansion tank cap and the radiator plug. Fill the radiator and expansion tank(only to the full mark) and run the vehicle with heater on until warm and no air bubbles come out of the radiator anymore. Put radiator plug in and top off expansion tank. Anyone can correct me if I am wrong on this(I won't mind, my wife tells me I'm wrong all the time...)

 

Woah how did y'all jump to these conclusions,

 

I will give that a shot, once I have figured out this other issue which is beginning to sound like a huge problem. I am going to head out into the melting snow now and pull a valve cover. I will report back shortly (hopefully.)

 

If the car has been sitting for any length of time checking the oil with the dipstick isn't a good indicator if water is in the sump, as oil is less dense than water, so that's what will be on the dipstick.
Have you removed the oil filler cap and looked in? That will tend to stay frothy if you have water in the oil.
A blown head gasket can over pressurize the cooling system and cause a weak hose to blow. It will also allow water in to the oil galleries which then goes to the sump and causes loss of pressure when it's picked up by the oil pump.

I'd do a leak down test on each cylinder and go from there.

Oops, just noticed that you said the oil light would stay on for "a few minutes" and you ran it like this repeatedly. Very much not good.

If you have a blown head gasket I wouldn't put any more money in to that engine because running with the oil light on for a few min at start up is not good for the bearings.

 

Spencerfitch- You have some ideas? Looking for all the help I can get right now.

 

Sludge can be removed, but it requires alot of time and patience. I would say to remove the valve covers and oil pan to start with. Clean those out and all exposed internal engine components with diesel or kerosene. I would not use anything like brak cleaner near bearings unless you plan on pulling those apart to relube with engine assembly lube(couldn't hurt to do that, though). If buildup is minimal, and you pour good oil(rotella or similar) over the components to 'prelube' them, reassemble, fill with oil, start engine and watch oil light. If everything seems good, then drive around the block till you reach operating temperature. Drain oil and replace oil and filter again. Do again and hope for the best. If your oil pump is dead, then the RAVE will have to be consulted.

Just my thought as to what I would do if it were me. Others will have a different approach.

 

I did remove the filler cap and looked inside. It doesn't seem to be frothy or milky. I am thinking you may be onto something though, with a blown head gasket, leading to a blown hose bc of presssure and then allowing coolant to leak into the galleries as you call them. My question now is, can this engine be fixed (by me) if that is the case?

 

Chris, this sounds like a good place to start. I am going to check the valves now and hopefully get a much better idea of what is going on. You guys are all awesome!

 

And you did not insult me, I too am a born SMart Ash!