Hey, you are in the same area of California that my son lives. He found a nice 503 Singer I think it was, that I swear someone had oiled with a can of Pam spray. It was the stickiest awful mess you could imagine. After cleaning and tri-flow application I finally got it freed up and she sews!
Maybe the same tech worked on that machine too and used his can of Pam!
Happy to hear it cleaned up.
Ethel