Most garage door problems come down to one of four parts: a broken spring, a frayed or unwound lift cable, an opener that has lost its gear, settings or sensors, or rollers that have left the track. Pick the symptom below for the likely cause, the checks that are safe to make, and the repair that fixes it, anywhere in San Diego County.
Likely causes
- A broken torsion or extension spring, the reason most doors suddenly stop lifting
- A frayed, snapped or unwound lift cable that leaves one side of the door low
- Opener faults: a stripped drive gear, drifted travel or force settings, or misaligned safety sensors
- Rollers out of the track after a bump, or a track bent out of line
- Worn rollers, hinges and seals that make the door loud or let daylight in
The door will not move
Will not open. A broken spring is the first suspect, especially after a bang from the garage. Power, a lock left engaged and a pulled release cord come next.
Loud bang or broken spring. A torsion spring that snaps leaves a gap of about two inches in the coil on the shaft above the door. Keep the opener off until it is replaced.
Stuck halfway or opens a few inches. The opener feels a door that is heavier or tighter than it should be and stops, because its force setting reads the extra load as an obstruction.
Heavy to lift by hand. A door that fights you with the opener disconnected is out of balance, usually from tired or broken springs.
The door moves, but wrong
Will not close or goes back up. Most often the safety sensors: a blocked beam, a photo eye knocked out of line or low sun in the receiver. Limit settings and obstructions follow.
Off track or crooked. Rollers have left the track or one side has dropped. Stop using the door and keep everyone out from under it.
Cable snapped or off the drum. A cable hanging loose at a bottom corner, or a door sitting lower on one side, means a lift cable has failed or unwound.
Slams shut or closes too fast. The springs are no longer holding the weight of the door, so it drops. Stop using it until the springs and cables are checked.
Opens or closes by itself. A stuck wall button or a shorted wire, a remote pressed inside a bag or a car, or an older fixed-code opener answering someone else's remote.
Need your garage door working again today?
Call or text with your address, single or double door, and what the door is doing. The price is firm before the truck leaves the yard.
The opener and the controls
Opener runs but the door does not move. The motor hums or the trolley travels along the rail while the door sits still. A stripped drive gear, a broken chain or belt, or a trolley that has been released.
Remote or keypad not working. Start with the battery, then the lock or vacation button on the wall control, which turns the remotes off on many openers.
Sensor light blinking. One of the photo eyes near the floor is out of line, dirty or has a cut wire. The door refuses to close until the beam is restored.
Opener light blinking. The opener is counting out a fault code. On Chamberlain-made openers, ten flashes points to the safety sensors.
Opener beeping. Usually the backup battery: the opener has lost house power, or the battery is worn out.
The fixes live on opener repair and safety sensor repair.
Noise and gaps
Grinding, squeaking or rattling. Dry or worn steel rollers, cracked hinges, a slack chain or a worn opener gear. A new noise is often the first sign that a part is close to failing, so it is worth a look before it quits.
Gap at the bottom or daylight showing. A torn or flattened bottom seal, a slab that slopes, or a door stopping short of the floor because of its limit setting. A gap that is much wider at one end points to a cable or a spring instead.
Quieter nylon rollers and new hinges are on rollers and hinges. Seals are on bottom seal and weatherstripping.
Stay safe while you work it out
A garage door is the largest moving object in most homes, and its springs store enough energy to cause serious injury when something lets go.
- Never unwind, adjust or remove a torsion or extension spring, a lift cable, a cable drum or a bottom bracket. They hold tension even with the door closed.
- Never run the opener with a broken spring or a snapped cable.
- Keep people, pets and cars out from under a door that is crooked, jammed or stopped partway.
- Pull the emergency release cord only with the door closed. On an open door with a broken spring, the door can drop all at once.
The safe checks are power, the lock and manual release, the remote battery, the sensor lights and a look at the springs and cables. Our will not open or close checklist walks through them in order.
Spring, cable or opener: how to tell which it is
You can usually narrow it down from the floor without touching anything.
- Spring. There was a bang, a torsion coil shows a gap, or an extension spring hangs loose along the track. The opener lifts the door a few inches at most, or not at all.
- Cable. A cable hangs slack or lies on the floor, one drum on the shaft is empty or tangled, or the door sits lower on one side.
- Opener. The springs and cables look intact, but the opener hums, runs without moving the door, or does nothing at all while the wall button lights up.
Springs and cables fine but the door still drags? Then it is usually rollers or track. If you are not sure which kind of spring you have, read torsion vs extension springs.
Across San Diego County
The age of the house often tells us the likely part before we arrive. In the 1950s and 1960s tracts of Clairemont and La Mesa, some garages still have a one-piece tilt-up door on extension springs and pivot hardware. Mira Mesa and Santee houses from the 1970s and 1980s often run steel sectionals on extension springs. Carmel Valley and Eastlake, built mostly in the 1990s and 2000s, run torsion springs and builder-grade openers. Near the coast, salt air rusts springs, cables and bottom brackets early.
Some doors are past repair. We are not a licensed contractor. Garage door repairs under $1,000 in labor and materials do not require a California contractor license (Business and Professions Code section 7048), and we stay inside that line. A new garage door is a job for a licensed contractor, and we say so.
Garage Door Problems: common questions
Why did my garage door suddenly stop working?
Most doors that quit without warning have a broken spring, especially if someone heard a loud bang. After that come a tripped outlet or breaker, the lock button pressed on the wall control, a pulled release cord, or a safety sensor out of line. Look at the springs above the door before you press the opener again, and leave it off if one is broken.
What are the most common garage door problems?
The calls we get most across San Diego County are a broken spring, a door off its track or hanging crooked, a lift cable off its drum, an opener that runs without moving the door, and a door that will not close because of its safety sensors. Noise and a gap under the door come next. Each symptom has its own page here with the likely part and the safe checks.
How do I tell if the problem is the opener or the garage door?
Look at the springs and cables first. If both are intact and the door is closed, pull the emergency release and lift the door by hand to about halfway. If it moves smoothly and stays roughly where you leave it, the door is fine and the opener is at fault. If it is heavy, drops or binds, the door needs work first.
Which garage door problems need a technician right away?
A broken spring, a snapped or unwound cable, a door off its track or hanging crooked, and a door stuck partway open. Each leaves the door under uneven tension that can let it drop. Unplug the opener, keep people and cars out from under the door, and call. Sensor, remote and noise problems can usually wait for a booked visit.
What does a garage door technician check first?
We look at the springs and lift cables before we touch the opener, because a broken spring or a slack cable changes everything else. Then we check the balance with the opener disconnected, the rollers and track, and last the opener itself: power, sensors, travel and force settings, and the drive gear. A photo of the springs sent ahead often names the part before we arrive.
The FAQ page has more answers. Not sure which part failed? Send a photo and we will name it.
Where we see this
We cover all of San Diego County, same day in most cases. Some of the places we work:
Related guides
- Garage Door Won't Open or Close? A Safe Checklist: Garage door stuck? Safe checks in order: power, wall control lock, remote battery, sensor lights and release cord, plus which symptom needs which repair.
- Broken Garage Door Spring: What to Do Right Now: Heard a loud bang in the garage? How to spot a broken spring, why the door stays shut and the opener off, and what to do while you wait for the repair.
- Torsion vs Extension Garage Door Springs: What's the Difference?: How torsion and extension garage door springs work, how to tell which you have, pros and cons, safety cables, conversion and what each means for repair.
Ready to get the door moving again?
One call or text gets you a straight answer and a firm price before the truck rolls. Mon to Sat 7am to 7pm.