sounds like a problem i had on a mazda 929 that i had a while back. one of the cables broke, and it wouldn't retract correctly. the dealer wanted about $1200 to repair it and i found a guy parting out his 929 and bought his m/r assembly for $80. it probally took me about 5 hrs to replace it on a sat afternoon. not sure if it's your problem but i hope it helps.
