I'll talk to you. People who work this site regularly are usually very helpful and accurate. In that regard, if they don't know they don't throw rocks at the source just to be throwing rocks. I will throw a rock at the problem thinking it might hit the target:
I didn't want to worry about my oiler on a 10 year old 90 so I pulled the oil pump back enough to get the drive gear (and it's shaft) out and anything else that may have been loose....spacer, washer, sleeve....found nothing else, and the put the pump back on llike it was. Touched nothing else and left oil in the tank. Gear pump so nothing moves if the gears in the pump, which were driven by the drive gear, don't turn. Went to 50:1 premix and never looked back. Other folks get kits and other things but I told you what I did and it worked just fine for me.
If you are worried about scuffing due to low oil you can remove the exhaust manifold cover and water jacket (big plate on the left rear of engine block facing forward) and looking through your exhaust ports of the cylinders, have a look at your rings and piston skirts. If you do, expect corroded bolts and exercise extreme caution to prevent breaking off a bolt.
Once you get on the 50:1, I'd run a few cans of Sea Foam in your fuel (in addition to your regular mix ratio) to clean things up. All kinds of chatter on this site about the product....it works! Give that a try and come back. We'll chat some more.
