My Kenmore started "freezing up"... I'd be sewing and it would just stop. Give it a few minutes and it would go again. Took it in and had repairman look at it. Said it would be fine. Yes, it was... for about 3 months. It has frozen up this time and won't unfreeze. I'm thinking mine is a broken gear too. I may try looking on one of the fix-it yourself groups to see if I can do anything. I have several other machines, but I always could use this one too! I just don't want to spend more than the machine is worth since it is quite old...