Broken garage door spring

The springs are what actually lift a garage door. The opener only steers a door the springs have already made light. When a spring breaks, usually with a sharp bang, the opener suddenly faces the door's full weight: it hums, lifts the door a few inches, and its safety system stops it.

Signs

• A gap in the coil on the bar above the door, a few inches wide, where one tight spring has become two pieces.
• A limp spring hanging beside a track, on doors that use springs along the sides.
• A door that falls fast when it closes, or will not stay put halfway.
• A door that feels impossibly heavy, if anyone has already tried it by hand. Do not try it.

Leave the spring alone

Federal rules require every residential opener's manual to print the same safety text, and two of its lines cover this:

Weak or broken springs may allow the door to fall rapidly, causing injury or death.

Have a qualified service person make repairs to cables, spring assemblies and other hardware.

— 16 CFR 1211.16(b)(2)

The door industry's own association agrees: "Only trained door systems technicians should remove, repair or adjust doors" (DASMA TDS #174). Parts held under spring tension are fastened with red bolts under the industry standard ANSI/DASMA 103, which also calls for warning labels against removing them. Red means leave it.

Until the visit

1. Keep the door where it is. Keep people, pets and cars out from under it if it is open.
2. Stop pressing the button.
3. Do not pull the release cord and try to lift the door yourself: with the spring gone, the full weight is on whoever holds it.
4. If a car is shut in and you need it, say so when you call.

How long springs last

The industry association gives no single number. It lists what shortens spring life, including the weight of the door, the climate and lubrication (DASMA TDS #190). A door that is opened many times a day wears its springs faster than one opened twice.

The visit

The technician checks both springs if there are two, the cables and drums they drive, and the rollers and bearings, then names the price for what was found. The type of spring, whether one or both are replaced and the weight of the door all change it. Before the technician leaves, the door should stay put when stopped halfway and pass the reverse test in the opener's manual: see opener repair.

Updated 2026-09-30.