Sorry about two photos but my program only shows little thumbnails and I can't see them. The photo shows you the 4 anchor points on the guide tubes.
That really is way too much change and if you opened up the top or bottom of the fuse I would bet something else is wrong.
Removing the plastic rod is really easy and it would only take a few minutes to install a metal push rod to see if that will fix your problem.
It really is a fast thing to do.
Another thing I used to do a lot was make push rods from carbon fiber arrow shafts. You can eliminate all the braces and guides. A lot of the old kits gave you a dowel to make the control rods from.
You do have a problem but it's an easy fix!!