all i know is w/ the camshaft pos sensor replaced, it is starting again. security light has not come on again. btw, blue bowtie, it's a 3.8 chev lumina. from what i know, the camshaft sensor senses TDC (top dead center) so that the FI fires at the proper time. what i dont know is if there is a failsafe that shuts down something, maybe the PCM, if there is no response from the camshaft sensor. one thing i found puzzling is that no diagnositic codes were present. but anyhow, thanks everyone.