I’m having issues with the extruder: when I turn the screw to tighten the spring, it doesn’t do this. Is there any way to compress the spring so that the gears can open up to allow the filament to pass through? TIA.

the screw is for setting the wheel pressure . To release the pressure and let the filament free (open the gear), just push the screw down.

Put s nut on the inside threaded all the way on the screw then the spring use the nut to increase tension