93 Ls400 Power Steering Questions

[J_produce]

i recently purchased a 93 ls400 and replaced my power steering pump and pressure hose because it was spewing from the pressure hose due to the system having power steering fluid instead of atf which happened from previous owner. after flushing and bleeding the system and putting everything back together i started the motor and now i have a ticking sound from power steering pump. i dont get any whining noise when turning the wheel but i do get that tick, tick, tick noise without turning the wheel and when i do turn the wheel i get some resistance, not super but bad not as smooth as i remember it being. it sounds like a louder than normal valve tick but its definitely coming from around the power steering pump if not the pump itself. what the duece is wrong with my power steering? only reason i ask is because its not a whining sound and so im wondering if its defective or if i did something wrong. ill be getting another pump soon but i figured id start this thread. maybe i didnt tighten the pulley all the way down? but i am afraid of doing that without a torque wrench which i dont have atm. last time i stripped ps pump shaft threading and i was *BLEEP*ed. any advice would help thanks.

[curiousB]

Did you put in a new or rebuilt PS pump of one from a wrecker? Does the tick vary with engine speed?

You could remove the serpentine belt and run the car for 30-60 seconds and see if the ticking stops. Without serpentine only engine and water pump are turning. If noise persists then it is either of those two items. If noise stops its PS pump, alternator, AC compressor, of idler pulley making the noise.

If it is the PS pump it could be bearings, or maybe a sticky vane (its called a vane pump). Either way you need a new pump or if ambitious you could rebuild yourself. Look here:

...www<dot>lexls<dot>com/tutorials/steering/pspumprebuild.html