Wheres the oil pump on a 1997 mercury sable 3.0 engine

Check this post site for more information,

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/mercury-sable-1999-mercury-sable-where-is-thermostat

Half full is not normal. You may have leak or burn. Clatter is usually the hydralic valve lifters. Does it quiet down after it's been running a while? What is the oil pressure?

Have you checked if the fault is your oil filter,probably the filter pressure valve inside doesn't keep any pressure? or the other thing is a possibility of the pressure pipes are clogged or semi clogged.

20/50 is fine unless you in a winter in alaska ,use cheapest oil you can buy an and change it every 6000miles with a oil filter every third oil change ,Do not use long life oils with silly oil change periods as this sort thing cause the engine to clag up inside with depoisits then when these deposits become thick enough they break off and clog the oil pump pick up pipe filter and then it has no oil and the big ends go bang bang crunch

front of engine right by the oil filter

Several oil brands have "high milage" oil for vehicles with high miles. I would go with a 10W/30 oil.

For 1997 Mercury Sable, available engines:
6 Cylinders S 3.0L SFI DOHC (found in 22% of 1997 Mercury Sable)
6 Cylinders U 3.0L SFI (found in 78% of 1997 Mercury Sable)

Hope this help (remember comment and rated this post). Good luck.

Follow the upper radiator hose to the engine to where it's held on with the hose clamp. The hose is clamped to the thermostat housing. Remove that housing to reveal the thermostat.

Yes, the sensor is in small housing the goes in the hole where the distributor used to go. That also drives the oil pump so don't drive it you'll ruin the engine. It's located down under the throttle body, near transmission end of the engine.

has the MAF sensor been replaced? that is the most common reason for the engine doing this, the next is low fuel pressure from a pluggede fuel filter or defective fuel pump..