How hard is it to change out a garage door opener?

I have a Lift Master garage door opener which has stopped working. When I press the button to open the garage door on my remote or on the wall mount, it gives off a loud clicking noise like it's trying to to work but nothing happens......then after about 30 seconds it stops.

I've read online and I think one of two things is happening but I haven't opened up the case to look at it yet.

1. The main gear is made of plastic and the teeth have worn out...

2. A circuit board has gone bad / lost some soldering

So there's a chance I can open it up and fix it.....but I was looking at garage door openers and they're relatively inexpensive to the point that if the repairs are gonna take too long, I don't mind spending $150 for a new one if the installation is quick.

My question is, if I go out to home depot or somewhere and buy the new motor section, is it universal to fit the chain and pulley system already installed in my garage? IE if I buy a new motor I don't have to go and buy new pulleys, track, chain, etc to match the new motor section do I?

It will all come together in 1 package. Might as well put all new back up instead of using old rail.

It sounds like a capacitor gone bad. Simple to fix. If it was the gear sprocket the motor would run continuous when you press the button.

There is a pull cord to disengage the gearing so you can open if the power goes out. Often this has been pulled and the teeth are not engaging fully. However, if you replace, Don't mess with the helper springs. They are "loaded", like 32 rounds for a double door, less for singles. They will get you hurt.

If your in the metro or north area I have an independent garage door guy if you need help. Pm if you need a #.burt walks me through a lot of minor issues over the phone, he could tell you what’s wrong most likely.
Good luck

You can remove the housing on the motor and observe it in action. If the gear is striped you will be able to see it.

If you buy the same brand the track will likely be the same but different brands have different tracks.

If you get the same brand you should be able to use all the parts already there and just swap out the head.

I changed the gears on mine. Pretty easy after watching the videos. Got the gear set off ebay. I did pop for genuine Lift Master gear kit iirc.

Anyone have a door guy they can recommend on the south side metro or macon. I need someone to come do a check up on mine. Alot of chain slap. Dont have time to get in there and do it myself.
Pm me name and number.

yellowfin said:

Anyone have a door guy they can recommend on the south side metro or macon. I need someone to come do a check up on mine. Alot of chain slap. Dont have time to get in there and do it myself.
Pm me name and number.

Click to expand...

Abbott’s in McDonough. Censored(678) 583-4058‬ Is the number I have in my phone if he hasn’t changed. I’ve had him change springs and replace an opener. He is one of those guys that will have you measure and give you a price instead of coming out for an estimate. Fair price and shows up on time.

It's easy, we had two lift masters from the chain days and changed them out to belts. Super quiet and uses newer tech with light sensors and some you can even check the door from work.

The only problem I had was the newer openers where running shorter so I had to find closer rafters and redrill the brackets. Even re drilling it's a simple one beer job.

yellowfin said:

Anyone have a door guy they can recommend on the south side metro or macon. I need someone to come do a check up on mine. Alot of chain slap. Dont have time to get in there and do it myself.
Pm me name and number.

Click to expand...

Doors by Mike at Conyers

My last one was an old chain driven model that burnt the circuit board. I looked into getting another board but in the end decided that a quieter, belt driven model was a better choice. I used the same mounting bracket and track from the old one. It took 4-5 hours max to switch them out.

Like someone has already said, I don't think it's the gears...if they were stripped the motor would still run.

Before replacing the entire opener, I would check two things:

• Make sure that the safety switch mounted at the bottom of the door rail is not obstructed. Once I had a problem with my door not opening and found out that a leaf had blown in the garage and covered the switch, not allowing the door to open.
• And disengage the door from the opener and see if it opens freely. If the cooler weather has caused it to contract, it could be slightly binding which could cause it to not operate. But adjustments to free up the door are tricky, and like someone said DON"T mess with the helper springs. Call in the experts for that.

Lastly, if you are even moderately handy it's not difficult to replace the opener. I have done half a dozen and if you follow the directions carefully it can be done in 2-3 hours, maybe less.

Good luck.

As said, it's easy, I watched a couple of you tube videos and installed one myself.