Audio Systems: 06 Kia Spectra Audio System, kia spectra, cuetip

Question
Just this morning I got into my car and turned on the audio system to play a CD.  It worked just fine yesterday, but is having problems today.  It started on track 13 in a couple of seconds skipped to track 15 then displayed error and will not play any other CDs.  When a CD is placed in the player it displays "LOAD" then "ERROR" then it proceeds to spit the CD out again.  I looked in the owners manual for troubleshooting but it does not list any troubleshooting options.  A friend told me to go by a lens cleaner to see if that would work.  It didn't. The player won't keep the CD cleaner in long enough to do its job.  It just spits it out.  What could be wrong and what could I do about it?

Answer
I agree with your friend.  sounds like it needs a cleaning.  If it wont accept the cleaning cd then you've got a little problem though.  there's 3 main factors that can cause this.  
Dirty lens is the most common (from smoke if you're a smoker, or dirt etc)  
The other is if you used "burned"  CDRs.  turn the write speed down, most new burners will run at 52x but at 16x do a better job.
the last is that as cd players get older they start to "track" badly.  which means the laser doesnt line up with the tracks in the cd as it spins.  there are settings inside the cd player to re-track it but this is a very difficult procedure and really needs to be done by a professional.

Cleaning would be the first thing to try though.  so if your unit wont accept the cleaner, you're probably going to have to pull the cd player out (eject the cd first). If you need help removing it let me know.  Once you get it out and disconnect the wires, pop the cover off and you should see a small blue lens inside. sometimes the mechanism that rides the lens back and forth is in a position where it needs to be gently pushed back or forward on its track before you can get to the lens and clean it.  when you can see the blue lens,  take a cuetip with a little rubbing alcohol on it (very little, NOT dripping!) and gently scrub the top of the lens.  it will wobble around and flex a little as you do this and that's fine.  once you're done put the cover back on and let it dry for 1 hour.  plug it back in and try it.

Good luck!