Just Purchased 99 Pathy - Rust Maintanance?

Hi everyone,

I bought a 99 Pathfinder (not 99.5) Chilkoot about 2 months ago. So far so good, the truck had 185,000 K on it, timing belt, shocks, exhaust and other things recently done to it by the previous owner. Runs like a dream. I have two issues that I was hoping I could get some suggestions on:

1) I need to look into is the rust situation. The chrome bumper has a rust spot on it at only one corner (hasn't eaten through it). The bottom of the passenger door has rust growing under the paint. The parts just below the windows, on each door are of course rusted (the black parts, I have no idea what this is called, and I haven't seen one pathfinder that didn't have this). There is rust around all of the bolts in the doorway (on the bottom once you open the doors). One small rust spot under the gas tank. The rust in all of these spots seems to be on the surface and there are no holes yet, so I would like to fix it, myself if possible. Does anyone have any good links on how to go about doing this?

2) The service engine light comes on. Took it to a dealership for them to read the engine codes. They said it was an emissions issue: possibly some vapor escaping near the rear-left side of the car, close to the gas tank. The mechanic told me not to worry about it, as it is not a serious issue, but I might have to get it done when I go in for my next emission test 2 years from now. Has anyone heard of such an issue? If that is the case, is there a way for me to turn off, permanently, the "service engine" light as it is annoying.

Thanks, keep up the good work...