couplers are used in Genie screw drive openers only. Coupler is a small barrel shaped plastic piece that connects the motor to the screw in the rail and is what turns the screw to open the garage door. Not all Genie screwdrive use this replaceable coupler. Older Genie screwdrive models that have a short torque screw sticking out of the rear of the motorhead and turns when the opener is activated then you will not be able to replace a coupler because it does not have one that is removable. If you have one of these older models and when you push the button the motor turns but the door does not open because the clutch system that they use has disintegrated and you will just need to replace the whole unit. If you do not have one of these older units then you can replace the coupler. First you will have to find a coupler for your Genie opener. You will probably be able to find one online on eBay or some other website that sells garage door Parts.

Replacing couplers in a garage door

Replacing these couplers can be a little tricky sometimes so I will try to cover all the bases. The coupler is positioned at the base of the opener rail where it is bolted to the motorhead. If you look where the where the opener rail meets the motorhead You will see two bowls these two bolts are what holds the rail to the motor head. If you put your garage door all the way in the up position it will make this job a little easier because when you separate the motorhead from the rail the rail will fall to the ground if it is not supported by anything that is why the garage door when it is open you can lay the rail on top of the garage door while you replace the coupler. The first thing you will have to do is disconnect two limit switch wires that run along the top of the rail and attach to the ports where you would attach the photosensor eyes some are gray some are white and some are Brown. To disconnect these wires will have to pull the wiretip  out of the limit switch itself there are two along the rail one for up and one for down. Now separate rail from the motorhead the wires will not keep this from happening.

separate rail from motorhead

Once you have separated the rail from the motorhead you should be able to see the old coupler either it will be attached to the screw rail or it may be attached to the motorhead. Remove the old coupler and then insert the new Cupler and it doesn’t matter which way it goes because either way it will fit into either the rail or the motorhead. You may have to remove the cover on the garage door opener so you can turn the motor by hand a little bit to the left or the right to get the coupler to properly slide into both pieces. You should be able to turn the motor very easily by hand when the two are separated. When you slide the rail back into the motorhead where it came from you will know that the coupler is in correctly positioned because the two screws that you removed will slide back into their holes easily. The screws do not slide back into the holes they came out of then the rail may not be all the way on. Once you replace these two screws and they tightened down properly. You should reattach your limit switch wires and try operating the garage door. If the rail and the Cupler are not positioned properly will not be able to get these two screws back where they belong. If your garage door now operates correctly and the doorstops in the up or the down position where it did previously then you have completed the task of replacing the garage door opener coupler.