So using one of the library restore programs didn't work to put your music back on your computer?
I know how to get it off without the library restore programs. It worked, just not well. Some songs can't be located, and some still show up with the stupid iPod indexing code even in iTunes, and I'm not renaming 100s and 100s of songs. Be faster just to re-downlo-- er, get them all again.

Some songs will play until 3-5 seconds, then stop and move on as well. Some work flawlessly, but others have problems.

No, I don't think Apple will notice (or even care) that you opened your iPod, I don't think simply opening it voids the warranty anyway. Don't quote me on that though.
Well they say opening it voids the warranty, but I've heard people that have sent it in after opening it and Apple still dealt with it. Other cases weren't so lucky. Its kinda 50-50 here at the moment.

This might be a stupid suggestion, but have you tried blowing in the jack?

Yeah, no luck.

EDIT: Applecare is free, only the extended warranty is a ripoff How old is your iPod?
Almost a year and a half I guess? Its 5th Generation 30gig. Got it in August of last year.