I had the same issue a few weeks ago when I bought my WCS. If you had the same issue as me, I believe over time the grease gets kicked aside and the gears rotate without contacting grease.

I went out and bought some more of that blue mechanics grease. I didn't have an injection device, so I cut a tiny corner off of a zip-lock bag, scooped a bunch of grease into the bag, and squeezed it out through the small hole I cut into the gearbox. This removed practically all the noise on my soccer ball assembly.

Hmm mine is very noisy too, but I do have some of the blue lubricant you describe that I used on another game I will have to give that a try. I was under the impression that was just how WCS sounded.

Is there a link to a recommended grease product, or do I just google blue grease? lol.

You don't have to. I forget how the exact assembly worked, but there are some machine screws on that metal mounting plate (the one that screws to the PF underside). Remove those machine screws, and then remove the metal mounting plate (you may have to remove the retaining/snap ring on the shaft that extends up through the playfield. I just can't recall at the moment.

The shaft should then (or maybe with one small step I'm forgetting) be removable. Make sure you don't lose the O-ring. With the shaft gone, you now have a spot to inject the grease.

I ended up buying a few greases from Walmart (I have a new house, no greases in the shed, figured a few types would be handy). I think the one I used for the gearbox was the higher temp, multi-use grease as I figured this would be the best for both lubrication, temperature resistance, and heat dissipation. Both that I bought were in tubs. So far no problems.

Hope this helps.

Lithium grease...