Opener Runs but the Garage Door Will Not Move? San Diego Repair

What you are seeing

You press the button and the opener comes to life. The light turns on, the motor hums or whirs, maybe the chain creeps along the rail. The door does not budge, or it lifts an inch and settles back.

Sometimes the trolley runs down the rail on its own while the door stays shut. Sometimes nothing on the rail moves at all and you hear only the motor, or a single click.

Those details matter. Where the movement stops, at the motor, at the trolley or at the door, tells you which part let go. Take a look before you press the button again, because running a door that will not move can turn a small repair into a larger one.

What usually causes it

Follow the movement and the cause usually shows itself.

• Motor runs, chain or belt does not move: a stripped drive gear. On many chain and belt openers it is a white nylon gear, and fine white shavings under the motor head give it away.
• Chain and trolley move, door stays: the trolley is disconnected. Someone pulled the release cord, or it snagged on a ladder or a roof rack.
• Chain lying slack or on the floor, or the belt in two pieces: a broken or jumped chain or belt, sometimes from a worn sprocket.
• Opener strains, door lifts a few inches and stops or reverses: usually a broken spring. The opener cannot lift the full weight of the door and should not try.
• Door will not move even by hand: look for a locked T-handle or slide bolt.

Humming or clicking with nothing moving

A hum with nothing turning. The motor is getting power but cannot start. On many older openers with an AC motor, that is a failed capacitor; on a worn unit the motor itself may have seized. A broken spring can cause the same hum, so look up first. Unplug the opener rather than letting it hum, because a stalled motor heats up.

A click and nothing else. One click at the motor head usually means a relay on the logic board closed but the motor never ran: a worn relay, a failed board, or the same capacitor or motor fault. We test the board and the motor circuit before replacing anything.

What you can safely check in two minutes

Do not run the opener again if a spring or cable looks broken; each try strains the gear and the top section of the door.

1. Springs first. From the floor, look at the torsion spring above the door or the extension springs beside the tracks. A two-inch gap in a coil or a loose spring means it broke: leave the door down and call.
2. Cables. Look at both bottom corners for a frayed or slack cable.
3. Release. If the trolley has come off the door and the door is closed, run the opener once. On most openers the trolley travels along and latches back on; our guide to opening a garage door manually covers the reconnect for each drive type.
4. Locks. Make sure no T-handle lock or slide bolt is engaged.
5. Shavings. White plastic bits under the motor head mean a stripped gear. Stop running it.

Which repair fixes it

• Stripped drive gear or worn sprocket: opener repair, one of the most common jobs on LiftMaster, Chamberlain and Craftsman chain and belt units.
• Broken or jumped chain or belt, cracked trolley, failed capacitor or relay: the same opener repair.
• Disconnected trolley: usually just reconnected, plus a look at why the release was pulled.
• Broken spring: spring replacement first, then the gear is checked, because hauling a heavy door is one of the ways gears strip.
• A tired opener with several faults at once: opener replacement.

When a repair stops making sense

A gear kit is a small repair on a sound opener. It stops making sense when:

• The opener is old enough that the logic board, motor and gear are all tired at once, and parts are getting hard to find.
• The gear stripped because the door ran heavy for years, and the motor has been overheating along with it.
• The opener predates rolling-code remotes or has no battery backup. Every new residential opener sold or installed in California since July 1, 2019 must include one, so a replacement brings it with it.

Then a new opener is the better spend. Our guide on whether to repair or replace an opener walks through it.

Across San Diego

In Eastlake and Otay Ranch, many garages still run the opener the builder installed, and a worn drive gear is the typical first failure. On an otherwise healthy opener it is well worth fixing.

In the older ranch-house neighborhoods of El Cajon, the door can be decades older than the opener pulling it. Before fitting a new gear there, we test the balance of the door, because a heavy door will strip the new gear too.

Wherever you are, tell us what moves and what does not when you book, and we can usually name the part before we arrive.

Where we see this

We cover all of San Diego County, same day in most cases. Some of the places we work:

• Mount Helix and Casa de Oro
• Ramona
• Chula Vista
• Coronado
• Imperial Beach
• La Mesa
• El Cajon
• Santee
• North Park
• Clairemont
• Tierrasanta
• Point Loma
• Pacific Beach
• La Jolla
• All service areas

Related guides

• Repair or Replace Your Garage Door Opener?: When a garage door opener is worth repairing and when to replace it: drive gear, logic board, rolling code, California battery backup law and drive types.
• 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.
• 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.