Suspension post - threaded collar

Three or four years ago I bought a Raleigh Maravista hybrid. This week I thought of the seat post. I've had a seat post stick after years of being ignored, so I decided to pull it and add a little grease. Since I hadn't looked at a suspension seat post and don't know how to leave well enough alone, I took it apart. They are easy to put back together except for the threaded collar which adjusts "free play." I talked to the guy who owns the shop where I bought it. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember how. One of his mechanics a few years ago figured it out. They run into people like me once and a while. Once the busy season is over, I take it in and Dave will have time to mess with it, but I wondered if anyone here might know the trick. By the way, when you unscrew the threaded collar you reveal a hard rubber bowl-like thing sticking out of the larger tube that a flat sided square metal rod runs though down to the spring. There are four wedges inside the collar lying flat on the sides of the square rod which are supposed to slide into the rubber bowl shaped thing which has openings for each of them. Using quite a bit of pressure, I can't push the collar down far enough to engage the threads. The seat post still works fine. Now that I know to tighten that nut at the bottom of the seat post, it works better, but I would like to figure out or learn how to re-engage the threaded collar.