Garage Door Spring Does Not Stay Tight

You need proper tension on a garage door to operate the door by hand or with an automatic opener.

Garage door spring does not stay tight.

Release your hold on the door and see if it stays up all the way. Garage door springs offset the weight of the door and allow it to open and close with ease. Hold the garage door and remove the vise grips from the track after the spring tension has been adjusted. This will disconnect the opener from the door and allow you to open it manually.

Lift the door manually to about waist height bring it to a stop and let go of it. A pulley through which the garage door cable is threaded. 2 brace the open door. There are of course many other problems that can keep your garage door from functioning properly.

Click on a problem below to see the possible causes and solutions. While the pulley is disconnected from the spring give it a quick hard look. Ideally the door should slowly float up from this point. Slowly close your door about halfway and release it.

Another thing that can reveal a broken torsion spring is a loud bang emanating from your garage. If the door feels very heavy and will not move easily it is likely that your torsion springs which counterbalance the garage door s weight are faulty or broken. If the tension is too loose the springs that help lift the door are ineffective and the weight of. A problem with the spring tension could cause the door to open or close unevenly improperly or at the wrong speed and adjusting the springs will likely solve the problem.

Be sure not to twist the garage door cable when reattaching the pulley. Move the garage door up and down until you find a place where the door stays suspended when you let go. Bottom of the door is up on one side. If that point is more than four feet or less than three feet above the ground you will need to balance the door.

One of the more difficult problems for do it yourselfers to diagnose is a worn cable pulley on an extension spring door.