If you can shift it manually, then the FD is working. If it "barely" makes it to the big ring, you may need to back off the limit screw to allow a little more outward movement. Are you sure that the shifter has released all of the cable when the cage aligns with the small ring? Is the cable properly routed around the anchor screw? If not, that can cause an unexpected change to the pull ratio (the length of the lever arm will change with different routing).