Originally Posted by DMF
The spring isn't that stiff. It's probably hanging up on something when you try to "collapse" it. I don't have any tricks since I've never done the re-assembly. Maybe contact Shimano?
Thanks. I think I'll take it apart again (it's easy to get back together w/o the ball bearing) and see if I can actually extract the spring and free it up. It did seem like the spring was compressing, and seemed like it should just compress when the lever was inserted w/ ball bearing. But maybe it's getting hung up, maybe just binding in the little channel it rests in. .....
edit: Well, I just removed and cleaned up the spring and then finessed it in, compressing the ball into the spring with a tiny screwdriver blade. Everything is working great.... in case anyone is interested.