Can a bad water pump affect power steering

[dylanborns]

Hello. I've been dealing with an issue with my Jeep for the past few weeks, and I'm at a loss. It has an AMC 360 motor in it, unknown year. I started hearing louder than normal squealing coming from the motor, but it was intermittent, and would stop pretty quickly. Then that became more frequent, and louder. At the same time, I was noticing some erratic wandering in the front steering, and intermittent loss of power steering. Then one morning, I had no power steering at all.
I checked the fluids, and it was full. I thought maybe air got into the system, so I bled it and that didn't help. The PS would be normal one minute, then totally go out the next, and I was still having the squealing issue. So I'm thinking the PS pump is going bad, and I changed that out. Filled and bled the system. Still intermittent ps loss.
The only other pump I have on the motor is the water pump, and I've noticed more than normal amounts of coolant puddled on the top, side and under the vehicle. After some research, I've learned that if a water pump is going bad, it will leak at a weep hole. So I'm convinced its the water pump.
So after all that, my question. If the water pump and ps pump are run by the same belt, and the water pump is going bad, can it affect the ps pump, (or other items on the same belt)? I've looked at the water pump pulley while its squealing, and it doesn't look like its freezing up or anything. My other thought is if coolant is being thrown on the belts/ pulleys, the ps pump could be slipping maybe? I don't know. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
Dylan

[GTP Dad]

Your problem is certainly related to the water pump. The leak is getting onto the belt and causing it to slip and thus the power steering does not work. Change the water pump and put on a new belt. Do not reuse the old one due to coolant contamination.

[dylanborns]

Hey GTP, thanks for the fast reply. I was hoping that was the issue because the next step would be to replace the steering gear.....$$$. I'll try the new pump and a new belt also.
Thanks again!