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Tim,
I have worked quite a bit with hydraulics. Not specifically with the Teleflex but the philosophy is the same. I personally only work on cylinders, and as stated earlier, usually send the valves and pumps out to be rebuilt. The internals of the pump/valve for that steering box is a complicated bird that I would most likely send out. If I saw a schematic and had a kit in hand, would tackle an obvious fix.

There is not much to any cylinder, $10 of rings and gaskets sold for $50/$100 as a rebuild kit. If there is no wall damage or scrapes and you keep the rod smooth you can nurse them a good long time. It is a closed system so the only real place water can get in is the reservoir. Generally through condensation. Maybe some moisture on rod. My Teleflex steering has a single cylinder with the rod out of either side. That means the sealing gasket for movement is in the center of the rod and the 2 ends. Hydraulic flow from the wheel movement creates the oil flow from starboard to port. If the end seals leak, annoying but would work. If one side does not work, probably the valve controlled by the wheel. A lot of times the hardest part of rebuilding a cylinder is getting the rod out without scraping anything. Sometimes with a single rod out of one end of cylinder there is a threaded lock nut on the end of the internal cylinder rod (sometimes locked in with a cotter pin) they take some doing to remove. With a rod coming out of both sides of the cylinder, I would probably get a threaded rod coupling and attach it to one end with an extended bolt on the other side and carefully drive it out. When removing the rod, the casing needs to be secure and you need to give it a good "pop".

Stopping and repairing right away goes a long way. Similar to an overheated car. Tow it and get a thermostat. Drive it home and get a motor. Having rust on the rod after non use for a while, the rod should get completely cleaned before firing up and using. A little bit of rust/metal wreaks havoc if it lets loose inside the cylinder.

So to John, I would clean the rod ends and work it a bit to see what is really going on. Maybe kit it. If the movement is strong with leakage only on the ends you can "quickie rebuild" and leave the rod alone.

To Finnegan, I have seen the quality of your work and postings. I would most definitely consider you very capable of tackling a cylinder. The key is observing burrs or flaws that would damage the new gaskets/seals/rings.

Garris

edit: If I had some tired cylinders, I would buy the rebuild kit for the high price but take the kit to a good parts man and match them up and save before installing.