Is my baby mortally wounded?

[brewtoo]

300E 124 103 Engine. About 250,000 miles.

This morning I was driving my car, just like every morning. I was about three miles from home, going about 30MPH. I starting noticing a rattling noise, not unlike a pinging noise due to bad gasoline.

After a couple of blocks I stopped at a red light. The engine was rattling louder now, and its usual smooth idle seemed a bit rough. The light turned green and I proceeded. By now the rattling was louder...loud enough for me to pull off the road.

This was about the time I noticed that the oil pressure gauge was sitting at zero.

I shut it down. I had probably driven about 1/2 mile after the rattle was loud enough to hear. The coolant had just come up to full temp on the gauge and I imagine the bottom end was still quite cool.

The oil level is NOT low but there is no oil pressure.

So, I was considering replacing the pump (or the chain if it is broken).

Any thoughts?