Mitsubishi: 93 Diamante Check engine light stays ON, pep boys, battery cables

Question

Hi Dinger, after your advice I took off my ECM and replaced it with a salvaged one from a junk yard (some capacitors were leaking). I also replaced the distributor and the main relay. A very costly affair but I hope its worth it since the car is old and they'd never been changed. The car started immediately and runs smoothly. Now my Check engine light stays on. Can it be turned off? and what else as per your experience should be changed to avoid future problems?
Thanks again for the hint.
Kenny

Answer
That's great, because we have it narrowed down now. Ok, when the check engine light is on, it means there is a stored DTC in the computer. This Diagnostic Trouble Code will tell us how to turn off that CEL (Check Engine Light, a technical term, I'm sure :)). I am very thrilled that it's running good. You can take your car down to Pep Boys or Cottman Transmission and they will scan your car for free. Then re-submit the code and I will help you get it off. Sometimes it just needs to be reset. You can do this by CAREFULLY disconnecting both battery cables and then holding them together for about 5 or 10 seconds. This will reset the computer. This car has a computer that learns the way you drive so by resetting it the transmission might shift a little rough for about 200 miles. But I think we got it. Do the reset thing and re-submit what happened... If the light comes back on then go to one of the repair shop I mentioned, re-submit with the DTC info. Hope this helps...