When I pushed the button to open my mom's garage door, the door went up about an inch and made a loud banging noise like a machine gun. We got the door to open by pushing on the button and pushing up on the door. The noise is coming from the part in the middle of the garage door that goes down the track that heads toward the box where the motor is. The door closes just fine. Thanks for any advise.

What I would do is to raise the door in whatever way you can. Then, push/pull on the bottom of the door (as if you were trying to raise/lower it) and see if there is some looseness where the arm on the opener connects to the door itself. There should be some kind of bracket that attaches the arm to the door, and it should be tight on the door.

If you don't see anything obvious, I would next pull the rope to disconnect the door from the opener. Now try to manually raise/lower the door (all the way) to see if there is any binding or rough spots. This might reveal where something is loose in the track.

One caution, the first time you disconnect the door from the opener and try to lower it by hand, make sure you can get out of the way if the door comes down suddenly--which it might do if the counterbalance spring is broken or weak. A properly adjusted spring will allow the door to be easily raised and lowered by hand.

Best of luck,
WallyH