Is there any way to fix an Xbox 360 that intermittently won't read discs?

My old Xbox 360 often times (but not always) won't read a disc. If I keep ejecting/inserting it will finally work. Is there anything I can do short of sending it back to the factory? It's not under warranty and the cost to fix is so high I might as well just buy another.

I had this problem and it turned out that my console was full of dog hair (she sheds a lot). My console was out of warranty so I just opened it up, disassembled the DVD drive, cleaned out all the hair with compressed air and cleaned the laser with a cotton swab dipped in isopropyl alcohol.

It is possible that the laser is dirty. You have two options - disassemble the device and clean it (please note that this will void any warranties), or purchase a special cleaning disc - these typically are audio CDs and have a tiny little brush attached to one part of the disc. Playing this disc as an audio disc in the console may resolve the issue without needing to clean the laser by hand.

It might also be that the strength of the laser is failing or that the drive is experiencing other issues with calibration. In these cases you would probably be better off sending it in for repairs.

Seeing as it is out of warranty already, you could look at swapping out the drive for another one off eBay. You can check which drive you have using a site like this one, and then look for a similar model on eBay or online somewhere. From there, it's as easy as swapping a drive on a PC.