Garage Door Won't Open? Eight Checks Before You Call
Most doors that refuse to open have a simple reason. One of them, a broken spring, is not something to work around. Here is the order that tells you which you have.
By Garage Door Care of Round Rock · · 6 minute read
The Eight Checks, Fastest First
When a garage door will not open, check these in order: the wall console lock button, the remote battery, the power to the opener, the emergency release trolley, the manual lock bar, the door balance, the lift cables, and the torsion spring. The first five are quick fixes you can do yourself. A failed spring or snapped cable is the most common cause of a door that will not lift at all, and that is spring repair or cable work, not something to force.
One thing to rule out immediately: the safety sensors. Photo eyes stop a door from closing, not from opening. A door that will not go up is almost never a sensor fault, however many videos say otherwise. Sensors come into it only when the door opens and then refuses to close again.
The Five Things You Can Fix in a Minute
The lock button
30 secondsMost wall consoles have a lock or vacation mode that disables the remotes while the wall button still works. When the wall button works but no remote does, the console is probably in lock mode; look for a padlock symbol or a blinking light.
The remote
1 minuteTry a second remote or the wall button. If only one remote is dead, it is the battery. Coin cells in visor remotes die fastest in a hot car.
The power
2 minutesNo light on the opener, no hum, nothing? Check the breaker and any GFCI outlet in the garage, which often shares a circuit with the ceiling outlet the opener plugs into.
The trolley
1 minuteIf the motor runs and the chain or belt moves but the door stays put, the trolley has been released. Pressing the button usually re-engages it, or pull the red cord toward the motor and run the opener once.
The lock bar
30 secondsSome doors have a sliding bar or a handle lock on the inside that drops a bolt into the track. If it is engaged, the opener will strain against it and stop.
Match What You See to the Cause
| What happens | Usual cause | Safe to check yourself? |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing at all, no light, no sound | No power at the outlet or a tripped GFCI | Yes |
| Wall button works, remotes do not | Lock mode on the console, or remote batteries | Yes |
| Motor runs, door does not move | Trolley released, or a stripped drive gear | Trolley yes, gear no |
| Door lifts a few inches, then stops | Broken torsion spring or a snapped cable | No, stop and call |
| Loud bang earlier, door now very heavy | Broken torsion spring | No, stop and call |
| Door lifts crooked or jams in the track | One cable failed, or the door is off its track | No, stop and call |
| Opener clicks but the motor does not run | Failed capacitor or logic board | No, opener repair |
Broken Springs and Snapped Cables
A torsion spring carries the weight of the door. The opener only guides it. When a spring breaks, usually with a bang loud enough to hear from the kitchen, the door suddenly weighs its full 130 to 250 pounds, and the opener either lifts it a few inches and quits at its force limit or strains without moving it at all. Look at the shaft above the door. A gap of an inch or two in the coil is the break.
Springs wear out rather than fail at random. DASMA's data sheet on spring cycle life lists what shortens them, and heat, missed lubrication and extra door weight all apply to a Round Rock garage. A spring that broke usually had a twin of the same age, which is why we replace them as a pair.
If a spring or cable has failed, stop. Do not keep pressing the opener, which strips its gear. Do not pull the release cord with the door partly open, because it can drop. And do not let anyone try to lift the door together. Leave it closed and call.
A snapped lift cable looks different: the door rises crooked, one side higher than the other, and may wedge in the tracks. That is cable repair, and like a spring it is done with the door clamped and the tension controlled.
Getting the Car Out Safely
If the door is closed, the springs are intact and the problem is power or the opener, you can open it by hand. Pull the red release cord straight down with the door fully closed. Lift from the middle of the bottom section with both hands. A balanced door rises smoothly and stays where you leave it.
If it feels like lifting furniture, the spring is broken and you should stop. Getting the car out of a garage with a failed spring is a job for a technician with clamps, and it usually takes minutes once someone is there. That is exactly the kind of call our emergency garage door repair line exists for.
Before You Use It Normally Again
A door that has been worked on by hand, or that has sat through a power cut, deserves one check before it goes back into daily use. Put a 2x4 flat across the middle of the doorway and run the door down from the wall button. It should touch the board and reverse, which is the test behind the federal opener safety standard. Then check both sensor LEDs are steady; if one is dark or flickering, Chamberlain's troubleshooting guide covers what to look at.
If the door opens but then will not stay down, or goes back up after touching the floor, our guide to a garage door that opens by itself walks through that pattern.
When the Opener Is the Problem
If the springs and cables are fine and the door lifts easily by hand, the opener itself is at fault. The symptoms usually point straight at the part.
- A hum with no movement and the chain or belt still: a stripped drive gear inside the motor head, a common repair on older chain drives
- A single click and nothing else: often a failed start capacitor, which heat in a Round Rock garage wears out faster
- Lights and clicks but no motor: the logic board or a relay on it, sometimes after a storm surge
- Works from the wall button only at close range: a failing receiver, or radio noise from certain LED bulbs in the opener's light sockets
Most of these are repairs rather than a reason for a new opener, unless the unit is past about fifteen years old. We quote the repair and the replacement side by side so the choice is yours, as set out on our opener repair page.
More From Our Advice Pages
- Why Your Garage Door Opens by Itself, and How to Stop ItStuck remotes, shorted wall buttons, app schedules and failing boards, and how to tell them apart.
- Hiring a Garage Door Company: Red Flags and Fair QuestionsThe pricing tricks and upsells to watch for, and seven questions for the first phone call.
Stuck Door Questions
Can a bad safety sensor stop my garage door from opening?
Almost never. Photo-eye sensors only stop a door from closing. If the door will not open, look at power, the lock mode, the trolley, the lock bar, and especially the springs and cables.
What are the signs of a broken garage door spring?
Look at the steel shaft above the door. A torsion spring that has broken shows a gap of an inch or more in its coils. Other signs are a loud bang, a door that lifts a few inches and stops, or a door that feels extremely heavy when released.
Is it safe to open a garage door by hand?
Yes, as long as the door is all the way down and neither spring has broken. Pull the release cord and lift from the middle. Do not do it if a spring or cable is broken, or if the door is stuck partly open.
Why does my opener run but the door not move?
Either the trolley is disengaged from the chain or belt, which is an easy fix, or the drive gear inside the motor head has stripped, which is a repair. If the chain or belt is not moving while the motor hums, it is the gear.
How fast can you get to a Round Rock house if the car is trapped?
We work only in Round Rock, so the drive is short. Call, tell us what happened and whether the car is inside, and we will give you a time on that call.
Door will not open and the car is inside? Call us now.
Open 24 hours. Tell us what you heard and we will tell you what is safe to try.