I know i PMed you first about it but i figured the more people see it the more could help and maybe others with the same problem could finally get theirs back going
I don't have any CD based PS2 games but it's reading PSX games fine and audio CDs work fine too. By pot, you mean those 2 little regulating resistors (potentiometers)?
Edit:
OK, i've found a site which one of the 2 is actually the DVD pot.
http://www.cyber-mag.com/station/laserPS2.htm
Does anyboy with a 39004 know how much Ohms he/she has on the DVD pot?
Because mine was at 956 Ohms and the site says it should be around 1100 and 1400.