You opened and checked the wicks? The wicks doesn't have to be clean like new, but the old grease have to be soft enough to wick through, or rather being replaced. Wicks can sometimes be cleaned, but more easily replaced. If you add soft petroleum jelly (or the stuff like the Featherweight shop sells) once a year it should fill and wick fine when the motor warm up. It's nut much at all, and if you use a syringe you can see when it's full. It doesn't really have to be filled to the maximum to work.
Now is the time to clean and polish the exterior of the motor too, since it's off the machine you can easily get to it from every angle. I like the resin type car polish (the liquid type that dries to a whitish film you buff off) it does a good job lifting up traces of dirt and grime.
I have been through this over and over. In October they posted
this video on their new grease. I might have to buy a tube.