Turns out that it was not the spring, but the ratchet for the coil. It was missing. The only help I got was from "replacement parts.com", who had an expanded view of all the parts in the Grasshog head. The young woman, in the Phillippines, who barely spoke English, didn't have a clue about weedwackers and probably has never seen one, insisted that I needed to buy a new head, because mine was somehow broken. "Replacement parts User's recommendation: Go to replacementparts.com. Very helpful to see how things SHOULD BE. My ratings are for Black and Decker.