Hi, SingerCLA,
Sorry for the delay in responding. Mine has the fiber gear. And I've finally gotten my hands on some 30-weight oil (thanks, Janey!) and will see if that helps. The noise I'm getting is a high whine, sort of like the motor is having to work too hard. Everything moves much more smoothly now, by hand, and I admit that after using Featherweights for the last six months, the 404 might sound louder to me. It's a more powerful machine, after all.
I'm going to put the oil onto the bearing, as several people suggested, and oil the bobbin area, too.
It needs a new foot pedal -- this one has to be almost completely down to get the machine going. But I am not sure what kind of pedal to buy. Most of them that I see have the three-pin plug in the machine, and mine has two separate plugs. One with just two pins is at the bottom, and another is higher up toward the hand wheel. I don't think the machine runs unless both are plugged in.
Ila