Call an overhead door company. The cable needs to be reattached and the spring re-tensioned. Unless you're brave and know what you're doing, this is not a DIY job. The spring stores enough energy to kill you.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 157K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 125K (SLoL)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Gone and wanting to forget:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™) [Definitely NOT a Benz]

As long as the other cable is still attached, there is no need to do anything with the spring. The affected cable drum can be disconnected from the shaft and the cable reinstalled. Then remove cable slack by rotating the drum independent of the shaft, then tighten the drum screw(s) back down.

Then you need to investigate the cause of the cable problem. Loose hinge fasteners area high-probability culprit.

__________________
When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

I am going to take Diesel300's advice and call a garage door company to come perform the repair.

I checked Home Depot, Lowes and Ace Hardware and none of them carry much in the way of replacement cables. Probably for a reason........just checked a review of a cable on amazon.com and the reviewer said the torsion springs can kill you.

I'm used to fixing and repairing most things around the house but in this case, it appears Diesel300 is correct. Better to pay the repair man and live another day......

For anyone not comfortable with doing it, I agree. I've done it many times, it's not that tough, you just need to focus really well and have the right wrench at the ready. You can get a 36 steel rod, 1/2 inch dia at home depot, cut it in half and you have your tensioning tools. You turn the hub 90 degrees and then put the other rod in the next hole. The tightening nuts are square, a good Crescent wrench will do. Specialty wrenches are available.

The harder part is turning it the correct number of times. If there are two springs, I'd unwind the other one and count the quarter turns. You want both springs to have the same tension of course. One way to get the correct tension is to tighten each spring to say 10 or 15 turns each and see if the door will stay stationary at about 4 feet open. Or do that with one spring if it's a single. Tighten gradually until it will. IIRC about 25 quarter turns is about what they usually take.

If you do it yourself, make sure the plane that the tightening rods turns in is never aimed at your person.

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

When replacing ONE cable, there is NO need to do anything with the torsion spring. If we are going to "focus," why not focus on the actual job that needs to be done rather than promote all this fear-mongering about the torsion spring?

__________________
When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

I agree that it can be done this way, but it is NOT that simple. If one cable has all the tension on it, just taking all the slack out of the other cable and tightening the set screws will not work properly. You will NOT be able to get the same tension on both sides, and the door will not go up and down evenly. Also, the loose cable will tend to come off the drum a lot easier. For those of us that have experience with overhead doors, it is no big deal to fix something like this. What cmac2012 says (post #7) is absolutely correct, but still may be above HuskyMan's pay grade. I suggest as others, and agree that HM should call a professional. He will find that the technician will remove the tension from the spring/s and start over.

EDIT: It seems while I was typing, the above post made by HM makes mine void. However, for others reading this thread, the cautions & warnings remain......Rich

__________________

All Diesel Fleet
1985 R107 300SLD TURBODIESEL
2005 E320 CDI (daily)

LOTS of parts for sale!


EGR block kit
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/355250-sale-egr-delete-block-off-plate-kit.html

1985 CA emissions 617 owners- You Need This!
Sanden style A/C Compressor Mounting Kit for your 616/ 617 For Sale + Install Inst.

Sanden Instalation Guide (post 11):
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/367883-sanden-retrofit-installation-guide.html

I have done a few springs, and cables. There should be a dab of paint on the spring, maybe white, red, yellow which indicates how many revolutions you put on the spring when tensioning. The supply store that you purchase the cable should tell you that number. No trial and error. Also a little white lithium on the spring and silicone spray on the cable and track while you are there.

Okay you have a two spring set up apparently. This changes things with one broken.

Home Depot has iffy reviews for their garage door springs. Life span is rated around 2 years give or take. I checked the Grainger web site for pricing. For new pulleys, tools, cables and springs, the price estimate is $234.00 to $294.00 plus sales tax. That is with ME doing the labor plus the risk of injury or death.


Tomorrow I am going to start calling garage door repair companies to get quotes. I imagine they won't be too far off the Grainger pricing plus I get to stand clear of the danger while they sweat it out.

notice the left is broken in half. This door is approximately twelve years old, I open it around six to eight times per day so it gets a lot of use.....

Attached Thumbnails

   

There are heavy duty springs available that last way longer than the builder-grade variety. In any case, be sure that BOTH springs get replaced. Where I live, the garage door companies charge about $150 for spring replacement.

__________________
When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.