Have you checked to see if there is an issue with the knee lift?
Check to make sure that none of that has bound up somehow.
From the knee pad & the shaft it's attached to, to the lift rod, to that long rocking arm across the back of the head to the lift lever.

I have one machine that's a bit fussy on how the rod for the presser foot & the contact point on the lift's rotating mechanism line up when it gets rolled back upright after a cleaning.
I have to make sure that the lift & the rod that raises the foot align when rolling the head back upright.
If they miss each other, things happen that aren't right.
Creates the same probs you describe. Seems like the foot is jammed up there. Backside lever all loose & does nothing.
The quikie fix, for mine at least, is too roll the head back, push the knee lift pad to the left (with...ahhh...my knee! Lol!) & then bring the head back down, checking to make sure all lines up.
I know why mine does this & that alignment can be dialed in within the lift's adjustments.
But that machine is o-l-d. She has quirks. She can be cranky. I've learned not to mess with her too much & just to work around her idiosyncrasies.

...but then again...
This may not be your problem at all.

Thanks a lot for your answer Al! I will try this, I didn't focus that much on the knee lift when I tried to figure out the problem, but this sounds really promising. I really appreciate you reaching out!

I can solve the problem.... sell it to me .... lol.... great machine.... the above comment is right on ... I’ve had my 145 do the same ...

Pull that side cover off and look there.

I had that problem. I removed the entire presser foot, polished it to a almost mirror like finish. Also polished the surfaces for arm that holds the presser foot in the up position. That fixed the problem for me.