I had already dumped some in the cup as well as rubbed some on the crank when assembling it.Couple things you can do. There is a hole in the top of the starter ratchet. That is for a few drops of oil to lube top of the crankshaft. If the shaft is dry it can seize in the recoil ratchet and bad things then happen. If you don't have the tool you can use a pipe wrench on it to tighten it.