'98 engine light

Hey i just bought a 98 cavy and i was driving home from work and i stopped at a stop light and the car died, then the next stop light the car started shaking and the check engine light came on, when i tried to go. i got very little power as i tried to take off, then all of a sudden i got all power back and a few seconds later usually when stopping and starting to go again, i would lose power again...when i got home i notice my car smoking. I know very little bout cars so can ne one help me??? someone with similar problems???

get it scanned. where was the smoke coming from? what colour was it? black, blue, gray?. i've seen a few of these cars with plugged exhausts(catalytic convertor) sounds like you might have a blown head gasket. check the oil does it look like a milkshake? is the coolant low? does it do this in all gears or just drive? might be a sticking torque convertor lock up. at any rate get the computer scanned it's trying to tell you something.