Replying to HELP, problem with my sony trv22

so i got this camera in 2004 and have used it each winter since. during the last few months of this past winter i started to have trouble closing the compartment that holds the tape. this was an on and off problem from february until april. sometimes it would work perfectly fine for weeks and then go a week or two and refuse to close at all. now it's the summer and i haven't been able to get it to close all the way in a long time. every time i close the compartment and wait for when it's supposed to automatically lower, i just hear a bunch of mechanical sounds swirling inside and the compartment won't go down. please help me