Check engine light on, gotta smog this week

i'm in california, i got a 96 tacoma on bags, and I gotta smog my truck this week but the check engine light is on, I have my battery moved to the bed of the truck, i've tried holding the negative and positive terminal together, i heard that might do something but it didnt. I wanna get this fixed i dont want the only reason for me not to be able to pass is because of the damn light.

-Thanks

Have you had the code read to see whats causing it to light up?

No, i havent dont that yet, autozone does that for free right? I think it could be a number of things.

Go down to autozone and rent their OBD2 tester. It will spit out a code and allows you to clear the check engine. It could be something as simple as a gas cap. It's real easy to use and comes with instructions.

held the neg and pos cables together?
sounds like something someone at autozone told you!
get the code from a scan tool and pm me with it and i will tell ya what it is,i work at a toyota dealership.

at my local autozone you can no longer rent or borrow the code reader....

i don't think we ever could rent or borrow them in tacoma, but i do know they'll hook it up for you & tell you...then clear the code if you request it.

autozone will check and reset for free...takes about 5 minutes

i hate autozone!!

Dont have them clear the codes! If CA uses any equipment like NC, even though you clear the code, if the problem has not been fixed and the computer itself clears the light, the OBDII machine that is used for the inspection will still show the code! I've had this happen to a few friends of mine.

Like I said though, NC may be different from CA....if it works there go for it!