My garage door is not opening fully. When we went to open the gare door this morning the garage door opener only opened the door about 2 feet then stopped. We were able to manually open the door and get the car out but the door open less each time we try it. There doesn't appear to be anything on any of the tracks and there isn't one specific spot that the door stops at. It lowers the door without any problems after we have manually raised it. My guess is that the motor is dying but I wanted to know if anyone else has run into this. It is probably the same age as the house, so 12ish years old.

12/23/2008 1:18:56 PM

Silicone grease...everywhere.

12/23/2008 1:29:20 PM

you got this.


you get this.

12/23/2008 3:28:55 PM

check to make sure the spring is still wound tight. the motor actually does very little work. the spring above the door is what actually does the lifting. how hard is the door to raise by hand? it should require minimal effort i.e. able to do it easily with one hand. just note, i wouldn't recommend fucking with that spring if you've never messed with one before. that shit will kill you. hire a professional.

12/23/2008 9:07:13 PM

hire a professional, a.k.a. OptimusPrime and Jeepman's garage door repair services

it does sound like the spring. does it start to go up and then stop and go down? I'd check spring tension first, then move on to the door stop triggers, sensor blockages, etc.

maybe 69 will come drop some knowledge

12/24/2008 3:48:13 PM

more like optmusprime's garage door wrecking service

12/25/2008 12:41:03 AM

lol. i ran into my parent's garage door a few years ago being stupid in the snow and it's never been the same since (floored it up the driveway, didn't realize the whole parking area at the top had turned to a sheet of ice). my dad and i both have done everything we can think of to fix it short of ripping the whole thing out and replacing it. we've got it to where it works fine most of the time, but maybe 1 out of 10 it'll bind up and you either have to reset it with the button and try again or do the manual release and force it up or down some.

[Edited on December 25, 2008 at 1:50 AM. Reason : .]

12/25/2008 1:48:49 AM

How hard is it to lift by hand? If it is still easy, then the spring is probably fine and the motor may be failing or just needs adjustment. There should be an adjustment screw on the motor to increase the allowed resistance before it shuts off. There should be two screws. One for downforce and one for upforce.

12/25/2008 1:44:48 PM