Hello everyone. Im in need of some helpful advice. I have a 1990 Cadillac Seville (http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64909#). About a week ago i had an oil change (http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64909#), my engine was flushed, and a new pvc valve was put in. Everything was running fine. Two days ago i had the radiator (http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64909#) replaced, still everything was running fine. This morning i went out and started the car and it was running ruff and kept dying out. Finally it wouldnt start at all, it sounds like it wants to but just wont turn over. There was a bunch of black stuff coming out of my tail pipe as i was trying to start it. i ran a code test and came up with EO53. I cleared my codes and tryed to start it again, ran the code test again and got the same error code. I know what the code is saying, Distributor signal fault<interrupted> but what does that mean? Does anyone think any of the mantainance i just had done to the car contributed to this? After all before this moring everything was fine. I dont have any Service Engine Soon light on either, i know the bulb is good cause it lights up like it should when i attempt to start the car. Even if your not sure but have any idea of what has happened to my baby i would apreshiate it.
Thx, Ginger

For what it's worth, this is what my service manual ( 92 Seville 4.9 ) has to say about E053:

FAILURE CONDITIONS
Distributor reference pulses have not been received by PCM for .4 seconds.

ACTION TAKEN
Code set. No service message.

DESCRIPTION
Code E053 is set if the PCM does not receive distributor reference pulses from the HEI for more than .4 seconds. Since the PFI system requires HEI pulses in order to activate the injectors, most occurrences of code E053 will be accompanied by a stall.

CAUSES OF CODE E053.
1. Loss of battery power to B+ terminal of the distributor.
2. A pick coil that has an intermitten short, open or poor connection at the
module.
3. Check PCM connector for improperly seated terminals and mating to the PCM connector.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe the electrical connector to the distributor was pulled loose - ?

Wow, thx for all that information. I was thinking that is was some sort of short somewhere because this just happened overnight with no warning, not even "service engine soon" was on. Do you think that a change of weather conditions couldve contributed? Friday it was in the 50s then overnight we got a mess of snow and temps fell into the 30s. Maybe moisture is a factor?