Answer:
The clock tower's gears on Poptropica's Wild West island is undoubtedly a difficult task and took myself a while to figure out. Back to the question, you only want to oil the MIDDLE GROUP of gears, all until they are sparkling and use all the remaining oil (only a little bit is left) at the end on one that may not have sparkled or just needs further oil. Once you are done, click the button that enables the gears to start. One or two of the gears should fall off but this is NORMAL on this part of the game.