If you got one that was built before the PS2's launch then you wont have had that problem, they were built to last as they got metal gears in the drives. The ones built after the launch had cheaper plastic gears, which could wear out quite quickly, which is when the Disc Read Error would start.

To date all I've had to do to mine is clean it from time to time, and while I'm inside I add a little lube to the gears, metal gears are a bit noisier than plastic :biggrin:.