Fix for a Garage Door Stopping Half Way Up. Craftsman Opener Stops in Cold Weather

Does your garage door only go up half way then stop? Here is a solution. I have a Sears Craftsman Automatic Garage Door opener that would stop half way up when it got really cold out. There are several possible reason why this would happen, but let's assume the circuit board is fine and dig into the most probable reasons.
Number 1, the plastic gears may have shaved enough plastic off (see inside the case for white "snow" shavings piled up) and they no longer are tight enough to lift the door. If this is the case, you can buy a replacement gear kit for about $25 or less online. It is not too difficult to replace the plastic gears and takes about 45 minutes.
Number 2, the cold weather has expanded the metal rails a bit and now your opener thinks there is something in the way so it stops the door. This is the easiest fix, just move the force control (little knob sticking out of the unit) a quarter turn towards the up arrow. This will let it have more force to push the door past the increased resistance of the cold/expanded rails. ....... ........................ . Number 3, if there is lubricant on the gears inside the box, it may be gummed up because of the extreme cold. Look at the gears and clean off about 80% of the old gear grease and spray some white lithium grease (found at any hardware store) on the gears. Also, spray some of the rails at about the halfway point in order to decrease the resistance. More than likely one of these three fixes will solve your issue if it is happening in extreme cold. Let me know if this helped you solve your frustrating garage door issue.