Audio Systems: car audio, 2000 chevy malibu, chevy malibu

Question
i have a 2000 chevy malibu its a 6 cylinder and whenever i put a cd in it reads error and spits the cd back out however the radio works...what do you think the problem could be and what could i do to fix it

Answer
Failure to read the cd can be from many causes:

- dead or weak laser diode inside the optical reader
- defective digital decoder that reads the digital data off the disc
- faulty mechanism that spins the disc, such as a burnt servo motor
- dirty lens (you can clean it with a dry cotton q-tip).

It is most often more costly to repair than to just replace the whole head unit.  But, I would try cleaning the lens first to see if that helps.  If the cd is rejected immediately it is more likely to be a mechanism problem than an electronic problem.  If it spins the disc a little and spits it out after trying to read the data on the disc it is more likely a dirty lens or defective reading apparatus.

All the best.