First I got a new laser off eBay for $7.76.

Fortunately in my research I found one site that showed there's three contacts on the laser bridged by a solder blob that must be removed after installing for the laser to work. I used a 15 watt grounded iron with three wire cord and plug. There are plenty of sites with replacement instructions. I cleaned the rails and drive screw then lubed them with Liquid Wrench white lithium grease spray. Spray some in a disposable cup then use a small, flatblade screwdriver to dip in and apply the lube.

To remove the tray, the right side catch is easy. To release the left side (as viewed from the top rear) you have to stick something under the left rear corner of the tray and gently pry up to lift the catch. There was yet more tobacco residue and dust and dirt to remove.

Remove the belt, heat a small pan of water to boiling, remove from heat then drop the belt in the hot water for 60 seconds. Wash the belt with liquid dish soap and water then dry it.

Use an old toothbrush to clean the grooves of the pulleys.

Look at the belt carefully and you'll most likely see it is all twisted one direction. That's the corner which was running in the pulley grooves. When you put the belt back on, force the twist the other way so one side which wasn't running against the pulleys will be. The belt will fight to go back on the way it was but once on it'll stay put.

The Benq drive already has some light grease on the eject and lock part which the gears drive left and right, so no need to add lube there. I used some silicone lube on the tray guides and on the tray drive gear. It only takes a tiny bit of lube! Spray some in a disposable cup then use a small, flatblade screwdriver to dip in and apply the lube.

If you're replacing the laser, do all the cleaning and lubing BEFORE installing the new laser to avoid getting lube and dirt into it.

Now the tray opens and closes like new. I don't know how long boiling the belt will keep it working.

You should add some pictures.

I'm not taking the bleeping thing apart again unless something else in there needs fixing.

One more thing I should have mentioned, at the front on the side where the eject button is, there's a bump stop for the tray. It's a small piece of soft, clear tubing on a rectangular peg. It's visible after removing the tray.

Look closely and most likely there will be a flat spot at the top front. Pull it off then replace it with the flat spot turned to one side.

There's a similar bumper on the metal part the laser rails mount to. It's the rear limit stop for the laser. It most likely will have a flat spot on its front side from thousands of impacts. Pull it off and turn the flat spot to the top or bottom.

I don't know if turning those will have any major effect on the function of the drive, but it will put it closer to how it was when new.

In several normal optical drives for desktop computers, I've fixed tray eject problems by rotating foam pads and rubber bumpers that have become permanently squashed. Never tried boiling the belts until I read about it various places as a fix for Xbox and Xbox 360 drives.

While I had my drive apart for the 2nd time, I did some measuring and it would not be difficult to replace the belt with a couple of gears, provided gears of the right sizes and matching tooth profile could be found. It would also involve swapping the eject motor wires so it would drive the correct direction.

Looks like a money making product for an enterprising person who wants to take the time and effort to figure it out for all the various game console drives. It would definitely end the problem of stretched and worn belts causing stuck trays.

I've used a different fix for this problem a few times now with complete success.

When first diagnosing a 360 drive that wouldn't open I noticed that it worked perfectly with the top half of the drive's case off, yet when I would place it back on the drive, it wouldn't open. I tried for quite some time to figure out what part of the case could be making contact with the tray but none of it was.

I finally realized that on the top lid of the case there's a guide that lays on top of the disk to hold it to the main motor when the disk is in motion. If you remove the sticker on top of the case, you can take the guide apart and inside of it you'll find a doughnut shaped magnet that actually holds the guide to the motor.

It turns out that the magnet is so strong, that it actually can hold the tray up by itself which causes the motor to actually have to pull against the force of the magnet to get the carriage to drop down. This of course puts more pressure on the belt, which eventually causes it to slip.

I have found that by cutting about a 1/3 portion of the magnet off and removing it, everything works perfectly and gravity can actually do the work of dropping the carriage from under the disk and tray when the tray begins to open.

Hopefully this will help some others in the future.

The slipping belt is why it can't pull the spindle away from the magnet without a disk in the drive. With a disk in, the spindle is held slightly farther away from the magnet where the magnetic flux is a bit weaker.

They're designed to be able to fit close enough together to securely hold disks made to the thin side of the specifications and with the magnet strong enough to hold disks made to the thick side or a bit thicker.

I can imagine that microsoft had their reasons for making the magnet as strong as it is, but I have been using a console that I did this too for over a year now, and it plays all of my 20+- games without issue.