Dodge Repair: 00 3.3/3.8L water pump, dodge grand caravan, radiator hoses

Question
My 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan V6-201 3.3V had a coolant leak so "replaced the radiator, fill and bleed cooling system.  reinspect for Leaks" was the latest fix by the mechanic.  We also had prior to that 2 months earlier replacement of upper and lower radiator hoses and clamps another cooling system flush basic oil and filter change, automatic transmission flush & replacement of valve cover gaskets for leak.  The radiator was replaced 2 1/2 weeks ago but this morning I was told I needed a new water pump because most of the radiator fluid leaked out on my garage floor last night after hardly driving the vehicle.  The mechanic is telling me that the pressure built up due to the replacement of the radiator and caused the water pump to go next.  My question is:  could this really be the cause of all the leakage, the water pump and shouldn't that have been something that would have been noticed when replacing the radiator (big crack)?

Answer
Hi Mary,
The water pump is external so that if it is the source of the leak you should be able to notice it where the leak originates from. On the timing of it leak, when you have a leak in the radiator the pressure inside the system is going to be very low such that if the pump were also leaking or about to leak it may very well not reveal itself until the system pressure was restored by replacing the radiator. So notice now whether the leak seems to be falling directly under the water pump which is at the front of the engine fairly low. On the '98 it is located on the lower side that is closer to the front of the van, on the '02 it is on lower side closer to the cabin, so I can't be sure where it is on your '00. If it is mounted closer to the rear than the front there is a bit of 'trick' to remove it which I can describe to you to forward to the mechanic, while if it is on the side closer to the front then it is a straight forward job to remove and replace it with no 'tricks' involved.
Fortunately the water pump, being external, is not a major time cost to replace compared to many engines where the pump requires that the timing belt be removed. Your engine isn't like that, thankfully, because it has a timing chain.
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Thanks,
Roland