sherwood cd player - dish problem...

[ade_gear]

hi. i'm new...
i looked around in the forum, but didn't find a question like mine altho it may be a common problem, so i'll post it.
i picked up an old sherwood cd player (off the street, mind you) which seemed in good shape. i figured the owner bought a new player and dumped their old player.
when i plugged it in (and found a cd inside.. "NIN - Broken" hurrah!) turns out that it has dish problems.. won't open, won't close... etc.
i opened it up, and from a little toying around, i got to a point where the dish opens and closes without a problem if there's a disc inside, but if there's no disc - it won't open.
what i figured out is that the little magnet that holds the disc in place is holding the laser mechanism up, unless there's a disc there - which puts some space between the magnet and the mechanism and allows less grip.
i figure the motor is worn out, and isn't strong enough to pull the thing down on eject, but i'm not sure...
question is - is there a way to fix this without replacing the motor (as in - am i wrong? could there be another problem?)
and if not - how much would such a motor go for? keep in mind - i picked this thing up off the street and got a bonus cd with it.. (my friends said that it's the coolest cd cover they ever saw... lol) so investing a little money in it won't hurt, if it's for a good cause.
i think i can do the repair myself, altho i've never done anything like that before, so if anybody wants to write up instructions on how to follow that through, that would be grand.
all in all.. i like this forum. it's informative and thorough.

thanks all!