Signs of a Broken Garage Door Spring
The springs do almost all of the work of lifting a garage door. The opener only guides it. So when a spring breaks, the door does not get slightly harder to lift - it becomes a 150 to 250 pound slab that nothing in the system is designed to move.
Look for the gap
This is the definitive test and it takes five seconds. Stand inside the garage and look at the steel shaft running horizontally above the door opening. On it you will see one or two tightly wound springs.
A healthy spring is a continuous, tight coil. A broken one has an obvious gap, usually one to three inches wide, where the steel parted. If you see that gap, the spring is broken and there is nothing ambiguous about it.
Some older doors use extension springs running along the horizontal tracks on each side instead. On those, look for a spring that hangs slack or has separated.
The bang
A torsion spring releasing sounds like something heavy falling in the garage, or a gunshot. People often go and look for something that has fallen off a shelf and find nothing.
If you heard that noise and the door will not open properly afterwards, you already know what happened.
The door lifts a few inches then stops
A modern opener has a force setting that stops it pulling more than it should. With a broken spring, the door lifts six inches, the opener senses the resistance, and it reverses or stops. Some units will hum and go nowhere at all.
Pressing the button repeatedly at this point is how people turn a spring bill into a spring-plus-opener bill.
The door is far too heavy by hand
Pull the red emergency release cord and try to lift the door manually. A properly balanced door with intact springs can be lifted with one hand and will stay wherever you put it.
If it will not budge, or it slams down the moment you let go, the spring is not carrying the weight.
Slack cables or a crooked door
When one spring of a pair breaks, the door often rises unevenly and the lift cables can unwind from their drums. You may find one or both cables hanging loose.
A door sitting at an angle with slack cable is unstable. Keep people and vehicles clear of the opening.
What to do next
Stop using the opener. Do not pull the release cord if the door is currently open, because the door can drop under its own weight with nothing holding it. If the door is open and you need to close it, wait for a technician.
Do not attempt to replace a torsion spring yourself. The stored energy in a wound spring is enough to break bones, and it requires proper winding bars, not screwdrivers.
Replace springs in pairs. The second spring has done the same number of cycles as the one that failed and will follow it within months, and a mismatched pair pulls the door out of balance.
What it costs
In Illinois, a single torsion spring replacement typically runs $165 to $265, and a matched pair $210 to $395. High-cycle springs, rated for two to three times the life, run $310 to $520 and are worth considering if your garage is the door you use every day.
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Rather have someone look at it?
Call and describe it. Most faults can be narrowed down over the phone.