[Stripit]

Joe is correct, that black cover is not only screwed on but on mine had a sealant installed all around the edges. I used a flat blade to cut that sealant to be able to carefully slide the cover rearward to gain access to the valve & cable. My cable was binding too. I pulled it out used a product like "Brake Clean" and sprayed the cable and casing to remove the crud/dirt that was making the pull handle difficult, along with removing a bend that I thought was a bit too tight. I put bike chain lube back into the cable casing to lube it up an dnot attract more dirt. It really freed up the movement and worked great.