Wanting to purchase a 1992 Dodge Cherokee -- how do I tell if it'll be compliant? Is there a site with general info on vehicles?

-- Willa Fernets (willaf@hotmail.com), December 12, 1998

Answers

How to reset the computer on a vehicle. Unhook the positive pole of the battery. Connect the positive lead that you unhooked to the frame so as to discharge any capacitors that may be supplying power to the computer. Wait a while. Hook the battery back up. Everything is now reset to zero. Drive off.

Works on everything I have tried it on or told people to try it on. Don't see why it wouldn't reset any date routine while it was at it. Cars don't read calendars. They just know what the computer tells them.

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), December 13, 1998.

Now don't get silly and try to ground the positive battery pole to the frame. You want to ground the positive side of the electrical system to the frame while leaving the battery unhooked. Or, you can unhook both battery connectors and short them together while leaving the battery connected to absolutely nothing. Works either way. Just don't try to say I told you to short circuit the battery.

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), December 14, 1998.