Expert: Sean Halliday - 3/17/2008

Question
QUESTION: My battery went dead about a month ago.  I hooked it up to a battery charger.  Now I can't pass inspection.  I was told I would have to drive about 200 miles to reset the computer. Is that correct?  There is no check engine light on.

ANSWER: If the battery went dead or was disconnected it may need to "relearn"the settings for the PCM.Why did it fail the test and what year is your car?.

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QUESTION: I left the lights on for about 8 hrs hence the dead battery.
2002 Kia Optima. The mechanic said the State computer couldn't read the car computer.

Answer
There is something wrong here with your car or the test centre.A dead battery should not cause all these problems.I dont know why the mechanic needs to connect with your car computor,the only thing he needs to do is test the evap system and the output for the emissions test(tail pipe).Maybe a diffferent test centre?The only other thing test centres do is test your gas cap and i have never heard of anyone testing the cars computor.On older cars and nearly all american models,there was a relearn mode if the battery lost most or all power but most modern vehicles have a internal battery in the pcm that prevents this.If for no other reason,do what he says and drive it for 200 miles then go to a different place.