Why does the opener trolley move but the garage door stays put?

First, Figure Out Which Problem You Have

Watch the rail while someone presses the button. The trolley is the sliding block the red cord hangs from; the arm bolted to the top of the door connects to it.

• Trolley slides but the arm is not attached to it: the emergency release was pulled. This happens after every power outage in the metro when homeowners lift doors by hand, and half the time nobody remembers doing it.
• Trolley barely creeps or jerks while the motor whirs: stripped teeth. On chain and belt drives, the culprit is usually the white nylon drive gear inside the motor head; look for white shavings dusting the floor or the top of the unit. On screw drives (older Genie units all over Edmond), the trolley's own plastic teeth shear off and the screw spins uselessly.
• Trolley connected and moving, door still not lifting: stop pressing the button. The door itself is likely dead weight from a broken torsion spring, and the opener is protecting itself by slipping or reversing.

Re-Engaging a Released Trolley

With the door fully closed (important, because a half-open door can slam once the opener takes the load):

• Pull the red cord down and back toward the motor head; on most models this snaps the release lever into the ready position.
• Run the opener. The moving trolley reaches the carriage and clicks in automatically within one cycle.
• No click after two cycles? Slide the door by hand until the carriage sits under the trolley, then run it again. Our step-by-step release cord guide covers the stubborn cases model by model.

The Broken Spring Trap

Here is the scenario that turns a no-cost fix into an emergency: a torsion spring snaps overnight (you may have heard a bang like a firecracker from the garage), the opener can no longer lift the 150-plus-pound dead weight, and the trolley either slips or the release gets pulled so someone can leave for work. Lifting a spring-broken double door by hand is a two-person job and a back injury waiting to happen, and running the opener against it strips the very gears described above. Check the springs over the door: a break shows as a clean 1 to 2 inch gap in the coil. Spring replacement is same-day work for our spring replacement crew, priced by spring size and cycle rating, with free estimates. If your car is trapped and you have to be somewhere, our 24/7 emergency line carries no after-hours surcharge and averages 20 to 50 minutes to your driveway.

Stripped gear repairs are affordable too: a gear-and-sprocket kit installed through our opener repair service comes in well under the cost of a new unit, provided the motor and board are still healthy.