Hey group,
It was -15°F here the other day and when starting Eva (my 2000 A4) it turned over, started for a second and then died.
That was a week ago.
The battery gave up the ghost, so I replaced it - and it still wouldn't start. There were no codes at that time... so I replaced the spark plugs which were very dirty.
The car started and then began spewing black smoke and running very rough, I thought it might just need to be driven so I took to the streets hoping to burn the cylinders back to clean.
But I couldn't stand the sputtering motor and worried the rich fuel mix could foul out some sensors - or something else.
On the way home it threw the P1128 code out - which is crazy! It's burning so rich that smoke, black smoke can be seen from inside the car


I replaced the coil packs (after a week of waiting for parts) and the code is gone, and the car ran right for about 10 minutes and is back to spewing the black smoke.
The code isn't back but it's still too rough to drive as described by all the other posts I searched on P1128.

Help! I can't stand the thought of visiting the dealership!

 

Check the vacuum hoses and do a Seafoam treatment.