Originally Posted by
robertjayp
It's raised so I wasn't sure. I ended up ordering another off eBay, only $20 so why not right?
Once I got everything cleaned up and put back together I noticed that it struggled to do a full cycle, needle up - down - and back up. But there was resistance when the needle bar moves down but not back up again when hand cranking. But no issue with the bobbin winder. So I knew the motor was solid. Not sure if the machines supposed to have a little resistance when the bars moving down or if that's just my machine.
Sounds like this machine sat for a while and the oil is hardened. I have a Singer 301 that was just like that, and what I noticed is that it would free up when I ran it, but was stiff when I came back the next time. I read on this forum about oiling with kerosene, so I tried that and am still amazed how that helped. I had already oiled it a number of times, and it still was stiff in a day or so of not being used. I used an oil bottle filled with kerosene and oiled it in all the places one would put oil. I came back a day or so and did that again, and after a few days the machine freed up so much I am still amazed. To paraphrase someone here on the forum, Kerosene, oil, and patience! Kerosene will free up the old oil, then apply fresh oil, repeat. Eventually fresh oil will replace the kerosene. My 301 still amazes me how happy it is!