Mickey2

I had to take off the needle clamp and scrape it clean with a tooth pick. Quite a bit of grime was gathered in the groove where the needle shank goes, preventing it from inserting correctly. Remember to insert the needle with the flat part towards the left and it threads from right to left. Snapping thread is usually tension to tight, weak thread or burr in the metal some where along the way. I also had to scrape out grime along the edges of the hook and race, as well as bobbin case for it to click properly into place (I think oiling and cleaning had made the dirt expand).

Depending on needle size, the needle doesn't alwasy center peferctly. There is an illustration some where showing this. You should scrape the grooves in the feed dogs clean too, a tooth pick does it easily. Have you had the needle plate off?