Moaning sewing machine how to fix it Montgomery Ward UHT J276C

UHT J276C Montgomery Ward Signature "The Moaning Sewing Machine" not the natural sound for this sewing machine, it was literally due to very bad care by the previous owner, it was left to rust outside, in rainy North Carolina, which also caused the clasp of the carry case to rust through.

UHT J276C accessory case with feet and accessories, missing seam guide, and large screwdriver

Sewing machine problem- something is moaning! Oiling all pivot and oiling points helped, but I couldn't get the stitch selector to move, it was stuck on straight stitch, so I didn't even think about the fact that it should have been pivoting! The very best I was able to do before my hubby helped, was quiet the moan to a kind of slight grinding sound, as we turned the handwheel, off and on, through one full turn of the handwheel.

Moaning sewing machine how to fix it

The non pivoting cam guide is dragging, because it can't pivot, so it drags, causing a moaning sound! You can't move the stitch selector the cam guide rides on, in this Montgomery Ward zigzag sewing machine, and the cam follower carriage can't pivot fully.

We needed to clean the pivot points, so the cam follower carriage could pivot (it may look like a frame, like in this Montgomery Ward sewing machine, but in other machines it may be a sturdier black steel frame (some Kenmores), some machines, it may have a single pivot point, but the cam follower MUST PIVOT, or it will DRAG, causing moaning or grinding.

I use a small paintbrush or a qtip, dipped in rubbing alcohol, to clean old sticky, dried oil, at the pivot points, and anywhere with sticky dry oil. Then I use Tri-Flow oil to lubricate these points. The tiny straw that comes with Tri-Flow oil, is very helpful for getting the oil exactly where you want it.

My husband, Rick, removed the cam follower, and had to disassemble it, so he could separate the cam follower stitch selector from the rod it was rusted/corroded to, polished it smooth again, with super fine sandpaper, and reassembled it. (It took a couple of times of really fine polishing to get all the burrs out of the rod that the stitch selector rode on, and with the stitch selector being attached to the cam follower carriage, ALL of these pieces needed to be able to work, or none of it would.

I oiled the bar to allow the cam follower stitch selector to slide smoothly on it, so it fixed the moan, which was caused by the the slight grinding friction from dragging, now EVERYTHING on it works, and runs smoothly!


Fix the cam follower pivot point, and it will not only allow the cam follower to work, it no longer moans!