Ghost Controls Gate Motor Replacement Nationwide

Ghost Controls Gate Motor Replacement: The Burbank Owner’s Guide

Ghost Controls gate motor replacement in Burbank typically runs $425-$780 installed, depending on which arm assembly failed and whether the control board survived. We stock Ghost Controls-compatible arm assemblies, control boards, and receiver kits on our trucks, so most Burbank replacements are done same-day. The usual discovery moment: the gate beeps, hums for three seconds, and stops - or the arm moves but the gate doesn’t. You’ll find the arm detached, the limit switch dead, or the control board showing a solid red fault LED that won’t clear. One honest note before we go further: this is not a brand we’re affiliated with. We’re an independent service provider in Burbank that works on Ghost Controls equipment every week - along with LiftMaster, Mighty Mule, and DoorKing gear on the same truck.

Call (213) 577-1120

What most Burbank owners don’t realize is that Ghost Controls changed arm-mount hardware between earlier A-Series and later AXDP/R Series production. If you buy a replacement arm off a shelf and the bracket doesn’t line up, that’s why. We carry both mounting patterns and the adapter plates, so the part actually matches your gate the first time.

Which Ghost Controls Models This Applies To

Ghost Controls sells two main lines that show up on Burbank driveways: the A-Series (AXDP, AXD, and the older A-series kits that predate the AXDP rebrand) and the R-Series residential swing arms. The arm assembly part numbers are AXDP-ARM and R-ARM, but there’s a serial-number break mid-production where the limit-switch wiring changed from a 4-pin to a 5-pin harness. Match the harness pins before you match the model name, or the new arm will throw a fault code that wasn’t there before the swap.

OEM Ghost Controls replacement arms are solid but priced as OEM parts are. For Burbank gates, we often install a quality aftermarket arm assembly that matches the OEM torque spec - Ghost Controls arms are rated for gates up to 20 feet and 900 pounds, and the aftermarket equivalent must carry the same rating or we won’t put it on. The decision comes down to lead time and warranty. OEM arms sometimes take two weeks to arrive. Aftermarket arms we stock the same day, and we warrant the work the same either way. You’ll get the written price for both options before anything is ordered.

Signs Your Ghost Controls Gate Motor Replacement Is Failing

• The gate stalls mid-travel and reverses. The arm’s internal clutch is slipping because the worm gear has worn past tolerance. In Burbank’s summer heat, the gearbox oil thins and the slip gets worse by August. This is a replacement symptom, not an adjustment.
• The arm runs but the gate doesn’t move. The arm detached from the gate bracket because the clevis pin sheared or the bracket bolts backed out. This one’s a race: if the arm runs unloaded for too long, it burns the limit-switch travel and the replacement becomes an arm plus a board instead of just a bracket.
• The control board flashes a fault and won’t respond to the remote. A failed limit switch inside the arm sends a constant over-travel signal to the board. The board locks out. You replace the arm assembly, then clear the fault with the learn button - and if the board won’t clear, you replace the board too.
• The arm makes a grinding noise every cycle. Gear teeth are stripped at the first reduction stage. This is the most common Ghost Controls failure we see in Burbank, and it’s usually age plus a gate that was slightly too heavy for the arm rating from day one.
• The gate opens but won’t close without help. The arm’s built-in obstruction sensor has drifted, usually because the gate hinges have sagged and the load changed. The arm isn’t the root cause - but by the time the hinges sag enough to trigger false obstructions, the arm has usually eaten enough overload cycles to be near the end of its life anyway.

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Replacement Cost & What’s Included

Here’s the Burbank pricing picture, written down the way we’d write it on a job sheet:

• Arm assembly replacement (aftermarket, torque-matched): $425-$580 installed.
• Arm assembly replacement (OEM Ghost Controls): $540-$780 installed, depending on series and part availability.
• Control board only: $310-$420 installed, if the arm itself still runs clean.
• Arm plus control board: $685-$980 installed, the reality when a dead limit switch took the board with it.

Those prices include the part, the labor, the harness adapter if the pin count changed, limit-switch calibration, a full open/close/obstruction test cycle, and the documented photo record. The price is written and handed to you before any work starts - that’s Haven Standard Clause 1, and we don’t do verbal estimates. If the job diverges, we stop, we show you why, and we write a new price before we touch anything else.

The labor warranty is the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the replacement isn’t right in the first year, we make it right at no additional charge. No argument, no expiration date inside that window.

DIY or Call Us?

What you can safely check: whether the arm is still attached to the gate bracket, whether the harness is seated fully in the board, and whether the fuse on the board is blown. Those three inspections don’t require opening the arm housing, and they’ll often tell you whether you’re looking at a bracket problem or an arm failure.

What you shouldn’t do: open the arm housing. There’s a wound spring inside that holds the gear train under tension, and the limit-switch harness is live at low voltage when the board is powered. A slipped screwdriver in the wrong spot turns a $500 arm replacement into a control board replacement on top of it. We’ve had calls from Burbank owners who opened the housing first and called us second. The repair always costs more that way. If the arm is unresponsive, detached, or grinding, call (213) 577-1120. We’ll name the part, name the price, and get it done.

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