My new-to-me 987 appears to be broken. CEL P0021 - ugly idle then no start
 

We were driving around with no apparent issues last night, got off of the expressway and stops the car is shaking with tach needle bouncing. A little throttle fed in seems to keep it alive enough to get up to a little speed. Runs fine once moving, power is fine seeming. Stop again, even weaker idle. It dies, people start honking, I fire it back up and take to a gas station in case it was running out without indicating empty (it was pretty low, with an OBC reported 33 miles remaining), tank up with 93 and fire it back up, same crappy idle trying to die, CEL on. I limp it home - again no sign of trouble while accelerating past 1000 RPMs, but at idle and possibly deceleration (maybe my imagination) engine sounds bad. Parked it, went to bed.

Came out this morning, tried to start. It goes unh-unh-unhhhh and does not even try to fire up, sounds like the starter is being snapped backwards by tension. Battery should be fine, drove at least 100 miles yesterday with no issues until just before we got home.

The codes are P0300 (random misfires), and P0021 (camshaft position out of range). I am pretty concerned about this, although it should be covered under warranty. I will have to get it flatbedded to a dealer, as the no start condition seems like it is not going away with roadside repair.

Car is 2008 Boxster S 6MT, and is under CPO warranty. I need the car to be good by 8/23 because we have a trip booked to Montreal. I will be getting it towed tomorrow morning.

Any ideas what might be wrong? Can anyone suggest a good dealership in NYC metro to handle this?

P0021 Adjustment of Inlet Camshaft in relation to Crankshaft, Bank 2 – Signal Implausible
Possible cause of fault
- Dirt in oil circuit
- Sealing strips on inlet camshaft adjuster faulty
- Oil pressure too low
- Mechanical fault in inlet camshaft adjuster
- Magnetic hydraulic valve faulty

Since its a CPO, flatbed it to the dealer. Most likely a failed cam position sensor but could also be a few other things that are harder to diagnose and repair.

Yep, working on that one right now. Anyone have a recommendation for a dealer within 50 miles of 11211? Someone who can be trusted to get the work done right and within a reasonable time, or at least to do a loaner? I need to be fixed or in a loaner by 8/23 due to a planned trip to Canada.

CPO is the key, happy you have that, right? Mine was CPO as well as is my wife's Cayenne, highly recommended!! Our dealer did everything, fixed everything, no problems at all! Zero costs to us incl. flatbed (Cayenne high pressure fuel pump went out), loaner cars at all times.

Yes, find a good dealer in your area and they will fix all issues.

never leave home without your CPO.

Yeah, as much as I love to turn the wrench myself, pretty happy to be dodging this particular bullet.... Looks like either variocam solenoid (can be fixed in car), or actuator (engine out) is acting up. Either way, doing the diagnosis without a piwis would be a big hassle. Flatbed is dropping the car in Porsche's lap when business opens today. Hoping it's an easy fix or at that at least we won't have to take our Montreal trip in rental corolla!