[Pazuzu]

The spring action is in the electrical part. It is surprisingly tight, so use a screwdriver and give it a *little* extra umph.

The electrical part is a pretty simple piece, with the spring, detents and starter-lockout. It's possible/probable that the lockout has broken loose or frozen. If something else was broken in there, you wouldn't be getting lights and such (I think it's just a disk with the contacts that spins around to touch other contacts).

Frankly, once that assembly starts to go, it's gone, get another one.

Edit: Or go for a push button start...