Before taking the Drastic Action of Removing the Oil Pan & Timing Cover:
(1) Perform an Engine Flush with (6) Quarts of CHEAP Organic Motor Oil and a CHEAP Oil Filter along with One Quart of Engine Flush or Transmission Fluid... BUT
Only idling only for around 5-10 Minutes and then change over to using (7) Quarts of Mobil1 and installing a New Mobil1 Oil Filter.
(2) Examine Post #6 via this Thread showing all of the Hardware necessary to
Install an Analog Oil Pressure Gauge to
absolutely determine the condition and performance of the Internal Oiling System (Oil Pick Up Tube, Gerotor Oil Pump, Working or Non-Working Oil Pressure Sensor):
https://gmtnation.com/forums/threads/testing-the-i6-oil-pressure-without-the-j-42907.15974/
The Video # (2) of this (3) Part Series is a follow-on conducted by
@MAY03LT on this very topic. In that segment, Drew uses a Flexible, Black Rubber Quick-Connect Oil Pressure Hose attached to a Large Dial Analog Oil Pressure Gauge to monitor the Engine Oil Pressure directly... instead of using a Copper Line for his apparatus when performing this Test or relying upon the Dashboard Oil Pressure Gauge to figure out what is
REALLY happening inside of the running engine.
If the Engine Oil Pressure 'Gollywogs' up and down from a Minimum of (12) PSI down to (0) at idle or fails to rise to around 65 PSI at 2,500 RPM... then this would confirm either Totally Worn Out Babbitt Bearings (unlikely)... a Completely Clogged Up Oil Pick-Up Tube ...or a Failed "O"Ring Seal at the Gerotor Oil Pump Manifold Interface between the Pick-Up Tube and the Oil Pump... or even an Open & Stuck Oil Pressure Relief Valve inside of the Gerotor Oil Pump.
Hopefully, seeing sufficient Positive Pressure on that Analog Gauge when idling and/or raising the RPM will eliminate the worry of causing serious engine damage from having Low Oil Pressure and allow you to focus on changing out the Digital Oil Pressure Sensor, just above the Oil Filter on the Oil Inlet Manifold: