black max 200 wont go into forward

I have about a 1983 mecr black max 200 ser# 124941 was working fine and then strated to grind and jump when going ito forward. Goes into revere fine. Took lower unit off and there is a shaft that runs down to the shifter, forward, nutral and reverse shaft. the shaft turns easily one way and feels like it locks into place. turn it the other way and you have to use a lot more pressure to get it to cam over. Tore apart lower unit and on the clutch dog there are two springs shaped kinda like a slinky about 3 round to each spring. one spring has a bent end that hooks into a hole in a small metal plug. The other spring had no bent part (broken) but has a plug to hook into. Does not appear the the ends of the springs hook into anything. Could this one little spring be my problem. The gears all look to be in good shape, no sharp edges. I am mechanically inclined but cant figure out just what the springs do. Also while Im in there is there any other parts that I should just replace while it is apart.

I am going to try adding a picture of the diagram. The springs are parts 61