Diagnostics and Remedies

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How long has it been since your garage door was last serviced?

Your garage door should be serviced yearly unless you are experiencing a specific problem. It is important to periodically inspect and service your garage door and garage door opener to ensure that they work at peak performance and to prolong the life of the entire system. You can visually inspect the garage door yourself, taking a look at cables, springs, tracks, hinges, and rollers for signs of wear. Some of these parts are under extreme tension, so do not attempt to adjust, repair or remove these parts or anything attached to them.

A good yearly checkup on your door should include lubricating the door, springs, hinges, rollers, pulleys, and bearings. It should also include adjusting the spring tension, testing the safety features of the garage door opener, and inspecting the rollers, hinges and cables for defects/wear. Lastly, all screws and bolts should be tightened. If a specific problem needs to be addressed, schedule an appointment with one of GDD technicians, to have the parts serviced, and make the necessary adjustments and repairs.

Refer to the diagram of the garage door and parts, which will help you identify the parts. This can be extremely helpful when you call with your door problems.

Garage door is open and won’t close at all

• Safety eyes have been compromised, misaligned, burnt out, wire severed
  Service required
• Lock feature has been activated on wall control
  Push and hold lock button for 3 seconds until green light is steady
• Gear failure or stripped
  Service required

Garage door will not open

• Broken torsion spring(s)
  Danger! Service required
• Side lock has been engaged
  Disengage lock
• Heavy door out of balance
  Service required

Garage door only opens a few inches

• Broken torsion spring(s)
  Danger! Service required
• Heavy door out of balance
  Service required

Garage door closes half way then re opens

• Excess garage door resistance
  Operate door manually and check for resistance and lubricate rollers and door jambs.  Safety eyes are slightly misaligned

Garage door closes then immediately re opens

• Close travel limit is out of adjustment
  Adjust open and close limits or call for service
• Internal travel limits have failed
  Call for service
• Garage door closing on obstruction
  Remove obstruction

Garage door closes a few feet and appears out of level

• Lift cables have unspooled from drums
  Call for service
• Lift cable failure
  Call for service

Garage door opener is running but the door is not moving but the belt or chain is moving.

• Trolly/traveller are disconnected
  Re-engage trolly by pulling and releasing emergency disconnect cord at a 90 degree angle towards floor and release.

Garage door works from the push button but the remotes do not work.

• The electronic lock has been activated (light behind button is flashing)
  Push and hold Lock button on wall control station for 3 seconds and then release. (light is solid)

Garage door remotes work but the keypad does not. (vise versa)

• Weak or dead battery(s)
  Replace battery

Garage door opener is erratic stops for no apparent reason and the main lights go out.

• Circuit board short or fault
  Call for service

Garage door remotes and keyless entry all stopped working at the same time.

• Electronic lock on wall push button has been activated
  Push and hold lock button for 3 seconds and check for solid light on
• Circuit board receiver failure
  Call for service

Garage door will not open and appears not to be level.

• Cable failure
  Call for service
• Bottom fixture failure
  Call for service
• Cable has unspooled from cable drum
  Call for service

Garage door is open and some of the rollers have fallen out and the door looks skewed.

• Cables have failed
  Call for service
• Cables have unspooled from cable drum(s)
  Call for service

Garage does not seal to the floor on one side only

• Cable failing
  Call for service
• Concrete slab has dropped
  Nothing can be done with door to solve issue
• Weather seal is hard or missing
  Replace

Garage door only seals in the center with gaps on both sides

• Concrete slab has dropped both sides
  Re:scribe bottom of wood door to fit to concrete and attach new bottom seal (This solution is not possible with metal doors)
• Wooden door has begun to sag or smile
  Re:scribe bottom of wood door to fit to concrete and attach new bottom seal (This solution is not possible with metal doors)