Hillholder question

I just picked up an 89 GL 4WD Wagon....my second soobie! Because the brakes always seemed kind of on, I checked the hillholder cable and saw something wierd. Or maybe it's not.

First, no surprise, there was no nut on the cable. *But* I would think that with no nut on the cable, the hillholder spring would tension the unit to the open (counterclockwise) position. But instead the hillholder unit was in the halfway position and not pulled back to the spring. So why were my brakes on. I turned the hillholder assembly counterclockwise and VOILA the brake issue was fixed.

But I think it is wierd that I can move the hillholder unit clockwise and practically lock the car up. While the spring looks ok, shouldn't it be pulling the hillholder assembly totally counterclockwise (i.e. towards the spring)?

If the spring is bad, can you just replace it or do I replace the whole unit? And finally (just in case someone knows) what size nut fits on that darn cable....