Those pumps don't fail very often. I'm guessing air in the lines somewhere. Do what drrtybyl said- flush the system, and yeah, have a friend fill while you turn the wheel.
Brendan
I'm getting together with the fellas tomorrow to do some hard core wrenching. I'll finally pick up some PS fluid and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the help!
If you guys do delete the power steering rack for a manual...there are a couple of things I would do differently:
1) d/c the steering knuckle, high pressure hoses, tie rod ends etc. and drop the whole sub-frame as one piece onto a hydraulic floor jack with a quick holding jig made out of a few 2x4 scraps (Or you can have a helper steady the assembly as you lower it. Just make sure you put the jack point midway across the subframe). This will save you big dough on: a) Bandages, b) Beer and c) Tylenol. It will also won't scare the neighbour hood children when you scream out the 7 words you can't say on TV over & over & over....
2) Put the rubber bellows on the steering shaft and get it onto the firewall first, then worry about the bottom end once the new rack/subframe is up.
Cheers,
Andy