1996 Dodge Caravan Oil leak at crankshaft

Hi GMWolfie. Welcome to the forum. Actually it's real common to do this but it depends on which engine you have. It also depends on whether your mechanic wants to get your business by undercutting his competitor's price, or if he has your best interest in mind and wants to perform a quality repair.

On the 3.0L engine, the timing belt has to be removed to repalce the front crank seal. It is penney-wise and dollar-foolish to not replace the belt unless that was done recently already. One of the idler pulleys for the timing belt is the water pump. The pump doesn't fail real often but when it does, it can cause the timing belt to be chewed up and destroyed. Replacing the pump and replacing the belt are both big jobs that can take five to six hours. The same things have to be disassembled for both jobs, so to replace both parts at the same time will result in only one labor charge. The cost of the pump and a few minutes extra labor are all that's involved in doing this preventive service. I would question the motives of any mechanic who didn't at least suggest the pump be replaced at the same time.

Caradiodoc