Stiff power steering...sometimes no visible leak??

[neepboy]

Now and again our bongo steering suddenly goes all stiff..Fluid level appears to be static and I can see no leaks. There is no squeel of belt or pump??
any clues
I was thinking of stripping the rack and re doing all the seals £30 ish i see mentioned...any thing else i should do with the rack off? and which fluid should I use and how much to buy?
cheers Luke

[missfixit70]

This has come up before - quick search brought up these topics - http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... mit=Search
Unless you have a bad leak, I wouldn't recommend trying to do the seals unless you have all the right gear, I stripped a spare leaking rack donated by Bongoing-mad-simon, still never managed to get the seal out of the middle of the rack.
I'd go for a fluid change myself as a first option, if it's leaking, try the power steering stop leak, seems to have worked for most people.
I've still got a slight leak from my top pinion seal, which I'll get around to having a go at in situ sometime, as it looks like that one is reasonably do-able on its own, even the bottom pinion seal is a b**ch to get out with scratching the bore of the cylinder.

[BongoMTBer]

I know you said there was no belt squeal, but have you checked the tension?

[dandywarhol]

I added a teaspoonful of this stuff http://www.americantechnology.co.uk/ from the bottom of the can, before shaking it, into a PS reservoir - cured the non op problem which is probably a sticky relief valve in the pump. (also tipped the rest of the stuff in the engine )