Go to your hydro pump up in the engine compartment and unhook the cable from its attachment...you can then determine if the resistance is in the cable or the friction device..if it does turn out to be the cable you can try loosening it by working lubricant into the cable but may have to replace it...if the friction device is too tight its easy to loosen but would suspect that the reason it is too tight is because oil from the control unit leaked onto the friction area the last time machine was run and it was tightened to hold...you will need to remove just the control from the hydro pump and replace seals which i believe are o rings but don't remember for sure...steve