Thanks for the quick response Chris.
while waiting for the new pump to arrive the last days or so the steering was stiffening but I suspected it was because the pump was starting to ceaze. It was making noises and stopping here and there. Finally the bearing blew out and all the fluid came out when i turned the engine off. Thats why I replaced the belt since it was now bad. The replacement belt is the same as the old one. (shorter version) Belt has good tension but I'll check for fluid on the pully.
I've probably put the steering from lock to lock around 200 times both with the engine off and on. Both in the air and on the ground (put car on snow or ice to save the tires) I never tried driving in circles though. Would that be in full lock? (i read full lock shouldnt be for more than 5 secs?)