When you get it to go up and down, remove the plastic cover. Douse EVERYTHING with some sort of spray lubricant, run it up and down a few times, then spray it again to rinse off everything you just worked out.
Now put on some gloves, take a handful of grease and pack it into the mechanism, the spool, everywhere. Run it up and down a few more times to work the grease in everywhere. Grease the cable too. Vow to exercise the cable twice a year when you check the tire pressure.
Also, throw a pair of gloves in with the tools so that when you're dressed up in a tuxedo for that formal event and get a flat tire, you won't rue the day you listened to me about the grease.