Three Common Warning Signs You May Have a Faulty Garage Door Motor

17 September 2020
 Categories: , Blog


Garage door openers have a motor unit that drives a trolley along a track, allowing your garage door to open and close when in use. When there's a problem with your garage door motor, the door's operating mechanism won't work properly or may fail completely. 

Watching out for early signs of motor problems can help avoid the inconvenience of a faulty garage door.

Slow Movement

Does your garage door move slower than usual when you're operating it?

There are a variety of reasons why the door may suddenly start operating at slower speeds. It could be that the running parts of your garage door opener such as the hinges, rollers, pulleys, and track haven't been lubricated for a while and have stopped working smoothly. Or, your door opener speed settings may need to be adjusted to get your door operating at normal speed again. 

If none of the above quick fixes work, it's possible that your garage door motor has started to suffer from wear and tear and may need to be replaced. 

Noisy Garage Door

When your garage door is working properly, it should have a smooth and quiet operation. When you hear loud or unusual noises coming from your garage door during operation, it is likely that something is wrong with the door's operating mechanism.

The motor unit of your garage door opener is made up of gears, belt drives, and other running parts that can produce unsettling grinding, squeaking, or buzzing noises when they're not working properly. 

Never ignore any strange noises you hear when operating your garage door because that could lead to complete failure of the door's opening system.

Jammed Door

Does your garage door intermittently get stuck half-way on its way down?

While the usual culprits behind this problem are wrong limit switch settings and an obstruction in the path of your door, a disconnected motor switch can also force the door into stopping prematurely. Simply reconnecting the switch to the power supply can get your door moving properly again.

Don't attempt to fix a stuck door yourself because the door can start to move and seriously injure anyone standing in its trajectory.

There are several signs that may point to a bad garage door motor. The above discussion only highlights a few common ones you're likely to notice. Be sure to call a garage door motor repair service whenever there is a problem with the motor or any one of its opening mechanisms.


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