well... today was a productive day! the DE502 was completely lubed and put back in to service and the 642C is next ( this week). The issue with the A502 was indeed the tension on the springs so I stretched out the new ones a little bit. now here is the good news, after putting the machine back together I found both old springs, one I had put on my workbench and the other was lodged in the vacuum hose that I have been using to clean the basement with. I will also put them back on the machine this week as well, but for now with stretching out the new springs the machine seems to work well. I oiled the pump in both the 142 (pot metal pump) and the A502 (replacement). next is to take out the leaking anti siphon on the drain hose and to extend the hose a little bit. Other than that, thank you all for the wonderful compliments and advice.