Water in trim pump 290 drive

I just bought a 1989 23 Stieger Craft with a 350 replacement motor and a volvo Penta 280 or 290 drive. The old owner just told me the trilt/trim pump didn't work. I jumped out the pump and it ran but it didn't lift the drive. I took the pump off and found it had a lot of water in it. I was thinking rebuild the cylinders and replace the pump. After some searching it seems this drive has cylinders that nobody offers kits for and the replacement cylinders are coming in at around a grand. I was thinking maybe I flush out the cylinders and replace the pump with a used one I have and see what happens. The boat was docked in the water all the time and I'm going to trailer it. The only way I can see water getting into the system is through the cylinders or if water runs into the pump fill or vent. Anybody run into this?

The 280 drive used a lift device only.... so you must have a 290 or later drive.
If the cylinder stems attach to a SS anchorage bracket, it will be the 290 drive.
If there is no SS anchorage bracket, and if each cylinder attaches directly to the suspension fork, then it will be later than the 290.

If 290, I know a man in Canada has a source for seal kits for these cylinders. I can put you in touch with him.

Since the boat was moored, look carefully at the base and stem end cylinder housings.
They may be corroded beyond salvage or repair, and there are no end housings replacements available.
Use mild heat on these before attempting to remove fittings, etc.

Thanks for the advise Ricardo. I will take the drive off and see how the cylinders on the boat look. I have one good one from my spare drive so I'm hoping I will have at least one more good one. I would appreciate it if you would hook me up with your guy in Canada for the cylinder kit.

I'm shooting a PM to you with Bill's email address.

The base on the bottom of one of the cylinders was corroded though. Now I know where the water was coming from. There is a short little ground cable going from the stainless tubes to the transom shield. The cable was broken on mine. I don't see this ground cable in any diagrams. I have to replace it because it may have allowd the corrosion on the cylinder. Luckily I have a spare drive to scavenge the cylinders off of. I got the cyl repair kits from Bill up in Canada