My 2002 Honda Accord is in the shop due to an oil leak. They found the oil to be leaking from the valve cover gasket as well as the oil pump seal. They asked me if the timing belt had been changed in the last 105k miles and I know it hasn’t (it probably hasn’t for the life of it). To get to the oil pump to fix the leak, they’ll have to go through the timing belt anyway so it’ll be less of an issue if they do it all in one go. But to replace the timing belt (which I’m seriously considering) and not also fix the oil pump seal leak, I’d save $250. If I need it fixed in the future, it may be closer to $800 to get in and fix it because of everything needed to be taken out and worked around.

My question is how serious is a leak from the oil pump? The timing belt replacement along with the gasket cover fixed, water pump, drive belts, tensioner comes out at $940 but with the oil pump seal fix it’d be close to 1200. Should I just get it done while they’re in there or keep my oil topped off and park in gravel/grass when possible?