my oil pressure went down to 0 and then i turned it off. its a 2001 chevy silverado. I turned it back on and it was fine. Then i started driving and it happened again and this time the engine shut off. Is there a safety feature that prevent the motor from seizing?

The engine computers will stop your engine if the oil pressure from the oil sensor drops to zero. You also should get a low oil pressure warning light. It just may be the sensor. How many miles does your truck have on it? Was it pulling a load or loaded on a hot day when this happened? You might think of changing the oil and filter and putting in a heavy weight oil. I did this with my high mileage Buick and it stopped the low oil light from activating when starting the car on cold (Southern California cold) mornings. I guess you did check the oil level? Hot days, and pulling a load and with A/C on, makes the engine hotter and the oil thinner. If you are indeed using your truck for work, it will need a heavier oil. (Sorry if I'm making an assumption the oil changes are putting in 10W 30 or even 20W 40 oil. In the winter you can go back to 30 weight.

theres about 180000 miles on it. i seriously thought the motor siezed because all it does when i turn the key is click. I just bought the truck and only had it for 2 weeks. Didn't even drive it everyday and the guy I bought it from I've known for 30 years and i know he changes his oil every 2500- 3000 miles. And yes i did check the oil level and it was normal. it was about 70 and i was on the road averaging 55 mph for almost 2 hours.

If you can, pull out the spark plugs and put a wrench on the crankshaft pulley. Put the truck in neutral but make sure the wheels are blocked and parking brake is on. See if you can turn the motor by hand. If you can, it may be the starter that is not turning the motor. IF the motor turns very hard, you may have a seized main bearing. The oil pan can be dropped an the bearings checked without pulling the motor. It's a bummer for both of you to have this happen after the truck changed hands. If it a seized bearing, the motor should be pulled, and torn down and put back together, You may need larger rings or new pistons, turn the crank, new cam and bearings, and what ever else is warn, including the timing chain. OR get a crate engine or exchange it for a rebuilt engine from a reliable source., See if you friend will help defray some of the cost. Then you'll see how much of a good friend he is. Smell the oil also and see if it has a burnt smell like a main bearing sizing and burning oil. A magnate will also pick up metal fragments if the bearing is sizing. If you can turn the motor, listen to see if you can hear any scraping or grinding noises. If you do, tear down or replace the motor.

Im, experiencing the same problem, but the new engine suggestion is a little pre mature. you need to do a little more trouble shooting first. there are some good DIY videos on you tube. any way new sensor, fresh oil + filter still same thing. next thing Im going is checking to see exactly what the oil pressure should be. Maybe oil pump. Reason, This is exactly what am 89 did a few years ago.

New engine suggestion is if he needs the truck up and running, or if he can work to find out the issue. I'd put an external pressure gauge on and see if that does the same. If he has problems turning over the engine, I'd start to guess, with all the pressure issues, a seized rod bearing. It's been a year since we tried to help, maybe A.G. can fill us in, that may help you in searching for a solution for your problem.

I have an 89 c1500 and it works great on a cold start but once it comes to temp it stalls out when I come to a complete stop and the oil pressure drops to 0... ive changed the temp sensor, pcv valve, ive checked for vacuum leaks, new egr, new spark plugs new air filter, new oil and filter, ive ran seafoam through it to make sure the valves were clean , it has a good spray pattern on the tbi... I really don't know what else to do if I could just get a answer I would greatly appreciate it...

Check and change if needed the gasket for the throttle body... Before I started changing out sensors I checked and changed my pcv was blocked, egr valve was stuck open due to carbon build up, siphoned out my gas tank sucked out as much dirt as possible due to my tbi injector being blocked with dirt. Took a mason jar filled with fuel injector cleaner and one at a time carefully swished the injector for 10 min removed put back.. Also i changed the filter screen on bottom of fuel pump in my tank it was solid grey with dirt, was cleaning the carb with a few shots of carb cleaner when jackpot carb cleaner poured out from under the whole front side of the tbi unit. So changed the gasket that goes between the tbi and intake manifold. Hope this helps I've seen hundreds of post similiar...

i also have a 2001 chevy Silverado and having an oil pressure problem it has a brand new oil pump and brand new rod and main bearings and still have no oil pressure and dont understand why I dont have oil pressure

Change the oil pressure sending unit and use quality oil filter.