Janome issues, can you help?
 

My neighbor gave me a Janome Sewist 509 that had belonged to his mom. There was a note in the box that said "decorative stitches don't work". I am going to play with it tomorrow and see what I can do. Any suggestions will be very welcome. A Juki, a Featherweight, a Bernette and this one makes four!

I would take it in for servicing. See if that works. Is there a Janome dealer near you?

I'm one who would clean up any areas I could see (bobbin area, etc), plug it in, get some scrap fabric and check out the stitching. If the note just said "decorative stitches don't work", could it have maybe been a thread problem? Dirty bobbin area? A minor tension adjustment? Bent needle? Depending on what I found, I'd then probably ask my hubby to help me out by checking stuff out. Though he's not a sewing machine repairman, he's pretty handy. If all that failed, I would take it in and talk to the repair shop.
Hopefully the fix will be easy for you.
Regards,
Kif

Those little Janomes are notorious for the needle bar freezing up. It may be that the needle bar is frozen and won't swing side to side. It also may be the cam tracer on the inside is frozen up. A little "solvent" in the right spot usually cleans these two issues up. These aren't made for easy consumer access -- no service panels.

Snap juki, featherweight bernina and janome plus a brother. I would give it a good clean new thread and bobbin and needle. It may just need a clean mine does after I. Haven't used any of them for a while. Is it sewing backwards and forward you don't say?

I would also suggest to take it in for servicing.

I agree with some of the others...my service man works on mine for $79 and guarantee's his work. He's never failed to fix mine.

Clean first....I bought a Janome 3160 used....the owner NEVER cleaned the bobbin/race hook area! It was really in bad shape and not running well. My luck..she reduced the price. I took it home, cleaned the Bobbin area, put the machine on a large towel on the kitchen cabinet, took the bottom off and cleaned some more, oiled the wick and needle bar only.....purrs like a dream.......try this first. If it is the side to side needle bar not moving in the zig zag mode (decoratIve stitch mode), grab the needle bar with machine off the try and move sice to side...if hard to move, oil the mechanical portion of the bar and work it back and forth......if this is not working, then take to your dealer. Best wishes

There could be other issues as well (tension comes to mind). I'd have it serviced, they usually guarantee their work for a period of time, and they run it through stitches to make sure it is working properly. Since it was given to you, probably worth having it serviced.

I know one Janome I had a few years ago, I never could figure out how to get into it.

Thanks for all of your help. I decided since it was a freebie that I would take it apart, clean it and oil it to see if that would help. It was not clean and probably hadn't been used in quite a while. I worked it over really well with pipe
cleaners & a cloth and checked the needle bar and oiled everything. I was overjoyed to see it working like a charm and purring like a kitten. Thanks again!