Ive taken my cd player apart and cleaned the lens because of previous problems, and now (as far as I know) the lens has to be put in a specific place on the track for it to work. Anyone know the answer to this one?

Man, I'm still working on getting the belt on my 8 track.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/kustomkid54/1998PontiacGrandPrixGTP001.jpg

stock cd players automaticly drag the lens back to the index position every time you put a cd in... just put it back together and pop a cd in and it will do the rest. this is assuming you put the arm back together correctly

stock cd players automaticly drag the lens back to the index position every time you put a cd in... just put it back together and pop a cd in and it will do the rest. this is assuming you put the arm back together correctly

ive tried placing the lens at all points on the arm and it will not work. e20 every time......i put the arm back in the exact way that i got it out. Im about to give up, dont want to buy another used one ....im afraid to know what buying a new one from a dealer would cost, and I dont want a non factory one because i like the steering wheel controls. thanks for the reply though

You had to put someting together wrong. You'lle have to take it back apart and make every connecor is right and no wires were accidentally broken. If that doesn't work.
I have another suggestion.
ebay, ebay, ebay. I bought one there for 25 a while back. that was for the factory tape deck, a cd player goes for around 70-80. Dealership usually charges around 3 to 4 hundred dollar and up. good luck!

BTW, you can have an aftermarket HU and still use the steering wheel controls. There is an interface that allows it with certain HUs that have a remote input.
For instance.
http://home.ripway.com/2004-12/213176/int.jpg

e20 every time

E20 means it has a bad pick-up and cant read the data on the CD.

~Larry~