I have a Kenmore 158.1703, and I've been having some awful tension issues with it. I adjusted the bobbin case which corrected the skipped stitches and now the machine will finally sew. However, while the bottom stitching on the fabric is flawless, the bottom threads are always showing in the stop stitches. The only way I can minimize it is by setting the tension to 1. That doesn't seem right to me. I double checked the timing to make sure that wasn't the cause of the tension balance issue...timing is good. I fiddled with the case and regular tension for literally hours yesterday, I just cannot achieve balance. Today I decided to take off the tension assembly as I noticed that the look of it differed from what I can see in the instruction manual. So far, so good, but I cannot separate the spring from this metal case thing. I apologize, I do not know what these parts are called. Here is a picture. Is it necessary to look inside here, or should I leave it alone? I have removed the screw and pin, and these parts are still stuck (see pic below). Any help or advice is appreciated. Thanks!
I cannot separate this metal case thing from the spring thats around this metal screw thingy. (sorry for the technical terms.)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]503979[/ATTACH]