Garage door making a loud grinding noise?

There are two places grinding comes from, and they are very different repairs. Inside the opener, the plastic or nylon drive gear wears or strips over time, and the sound is a rough raspy grind from the motor housing. Shavings of white or black plastic on the floor beneath are the tell-tale. The sound continues if the door is disconnected from the opener.

In the door, grinding usually comes from a worn or flat-spotted roller, a roller bearing that has seized, a track with a bend or debris, a hinge that is rubbing, or the torsion spring bearings at the end plates. It follows the door, not the motor. A door that is out of balance adds to it, because the worn parts take load they were never meant to.

A simple test separates them. With the door completely closed, pull the red emergency release cord so the door is disconnected from the opener, then lift the door by hand a few inches and let it go back down. If the grinding is gone and the door moves smoothly, it is the opener. If the sound is still there, it is the door hardware. Never do this test on a door that is open, crooked, or has a broken spring or cable.

A seized roller or a bearing is a very normal repair. A stripped opener drive gear can be replaced on many models, but when the opener is old, noisy and obsolete, a new opener can make more sense than a rebuilt one.

We will explain which of those applies to yours before any work begins.