repair to Grace tonearm lift

I recently purchased an AR The Turntable that came with a Grace 707 tonearm installed. As I was cleaning and adjusting everything, I noticed that the tonearm lift (Grace calls it The Arm Director) would simply drop the tonearm down as fast as you moved the lever, without a slow, damped lowering. I took the lift apart (the machining of the parts is exquisite) I tried adding a light machine oil, even fine grease to no effect. Could I have done something wrong upon disassembly? Is it supposed to be run without any lubrication at all? I would greatly appreciate some knowledgeable input to get the lift back to lowering the tonearm down gently, as I'm going to be installing a fully rebuilt Grace F-9 cartridge, and obviously don't want to take the chance of damaging it.
Thanks for your help, Bob