sure sounds like it . I dont know of anything else that would do that . Check the belts tension again and if you can put a temporary sheild in front of the pump/belts , i would then try another puddle to make sure i was correct.Better yet , with the engine running, i would fill an old sqirt gun or clean squirt bottle with water and squirt the belts while a buddy trys to steer it, in park of course. This is also a good way to find out if some of those nusance noises that alot of engine seem to aquire are due to the belts (misalignment, slipping etc.).
Hope this helps
Good luck
