FAAC Gate Motor Replacement Nationwide | Gatewood Fence & Gate

FAAC Gate Motor Replacement: The Tarzana Owner’s Guide

We stock FAAC-compatible gate motors and replacement parts on the truck, and a full motor swap in Tarzana typically runs $650 to $1,450 installed depending on your model and whether we’re keeping your existing brackets or welding new ones. Most FAAC motor replacements are done same-day once we confirm the model, because we carry the common 24V swing and slide motors plus the capacitor and limit-switch kits that fail first. The way most Tarzana owners discover they need this: the gate opens fine one morning, groans through the afternoon, and by evening it’s either dead or beeping a fault code nobody can decipher.

Call (818) 514-7606

Which FAAC Models This Applies To

FAAC built their reputation on hydraulic swing motors, and the model line matters more than most people think. The 400-series hydraulic operators (402, 412, 415, and the newer 422) each use different piston travel lengths and mounting geometry, so a 412 motor will not bolt into a 400 bracket without modification. The S700 and S800 electromechanical slide motors are another family entirely, with a 24V DC motor paired to a separate control board, and those fail differently than hydraulic units do.

How to identify yours: look for the silver FAAC nameplate on the operator body or the piston housing. The model number is stamped there, not on the control box. If the plate is sun-faded beyond reading, we can match it from the bracket bolt spacing and the piston stroke length. One compatibility gotcha we run into in Tarzana regularly: gates installed in the 1990s with the old 402 PCB (the one with the separate transformer) often get misdiagnosed as needing a full motor when it’s actually the capacitor or the limit microswitch that’s gone. We carry OEM FAAC capacitors and aftermarket equivalents that meet the same voltage and microfarad ratings, and we’re honest about when OEM is worth the extra money versus when it isn’t.

A note on sourcing: Gatewood Fence & Gate is an independent service provider, not a FAAC factory shop. We service FAAC because we’ve seen how long these motors last when they’re installed right, and we stock genuine FAAC parts alongside quality equivalents we’ve tested over years of callbacks. We also keep parts for LiftMaster, Mighty Mule, and Ghost Controls on hand for the mixed-brand properties that are common around Tarzana.

Signs Your FAAC Gate Motor Replacement Is Failing

• Gate moves slower in one direction than the other. On hydraulic FAAC units, this almost always points to bypassing seals in the piston. The motor still spins, but the hydraulic pressure leaks past the seal instead of pushing the gate.
• You hear a hum or click, but nothing moves. This is the classic capacitor failure on 400-series motors. The cap gives the motor its starting torque; when it dies, the motor just sits there buzzing. A $40 capacitor swap beats a $900 motor replacement every time.
• Gate opens on its own or reverses mid-cycle. On FAAC swing systems, this is usually the limit switch or the encoder telling the board the gate is somewhere it isn’t. If the board keeps getting bad position data, it’ll trigger a full motor replacement recommendation from a lot of companies. We check the switch first.
• Oil or hydraulic fluid weeping from the piston body. That’s a blown shaft seal, and in Tarzana’s heat, seals on gates facing south or west fail years earlier than FAAC’s spec sheet suggests. We’ve seen 400-series pistons leak at the 6-year mark when the gate sits in all-day sun.
• Intermittent operation, worse when it’s hot. Thermal overload in the motor winding or a failing relay on the control board. Sun-baked panels along Ventura Boulevard streets push components past their temperature ratings faster than shaded hillside installs.

Replacement Cost & What’s Included

For most FAAC swing gates in Tarzana, a complete motor replacement runs $650 to $950 installed. Slide motor replacements on the S700 and S800 lines run higher, typically $1,100 to $1,450, because the motor, gearbox, and rack matching take longer to dial in properly. If you need a new control board at the same time (common on units older than 10 years), add $250 to $400.

Every quote includes the motor or part, labor, travel, the capacitor and seal kit if the old ones are marginal, full limit-switch adjustment, and a final force-and-sensitivity calibration so the gate doesn’t slam or stall. The price is quoted and agreed before we turn a wrench, and it doesn’t change at the door. Every FAAC motor we install carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if it’s not right, one call brings us back, no runaround.

DIY or Call Us?

There are a few things worth checking yourself before you pick up the phone: confirm the breaker isn’t tripped, make sure the manual release lever isn’t halfway engaged, and look for a fault code on the control board’s LED. Those are safe, simple checks that take two minutes.

What you should not do is open the piston housing or pull the motor yourself. FAAC hydraulic units hold pressure even when disconnected, and the wrong move with a charged cylinder or a line fitting can send hydraulic fluid and metal fragments at high force. The electrical side isn’t forgiving either. A motor swap involves matching wire gauge, phase, and capacitor ratings to the board, and getting the polarity wrong burns out the new board in seconds. We’ve fixed enough “it was working until my neighbor tried to help” jobs to say this plainly: call us at (818) 514-7606 and let us bring the right motor, the right seals, and the right test gear the first time.

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