Last week we had some very cold weather in NH and I happened to be in the northern part of the state as well. On two succesive mornings I started the CRD (after being outside overnight) at minus 8 and minus 12 degrees F. I did not have the engine heater plugged in, nor did I use any fuel additive, but rather just local winter blended fuel. After about a 5-8 sec wait on the glow plugs the engine started up on the first try. It ran rough for about 30 secs, but then smoothed out. After driving about 8 mi at 40mph it was warm enought for heat and after another few miles when I got on the interstate, the engine was warm enough to shift into overdrive. Driving around on local roads the temp gauge would drop to j below "normal", but on the interstate the needle was at 11:58 which is its regular position.

My MPG has dropped in the cold weather to about 21.5 (from 24), but it is still better than my best (17.5) mpg in my XTERRA. In fact, during this type of weather the XTERRA would get less than 15.

Personally I don't know what the big worry has been with some regarding plugging in the CRD, or cold starts. My old '78 Rabbit Diesel (which I drove till the body was so rusty it could not pass inspection) started in all weather. That car was an old tech type diesel and even had a manual "choke" for cold weather. As long as the battery was good, the car started.

Since the CRD is a "high tech" device I expect nothing less. It seems to me that we should be able to expect cold weather starting at any time which is above the gel point for the fuel. If the temp would go down below -20F I would add some anti-gel though.

Just my 2 cents

Well, as the old saying goes, "Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD." Plugging it up makes a HUGE difference on startup in the mornings and is certainly healthier for the engine than starting it cold and letting it struggle for 30 seconds to get up to temp.

I plug mine up anytime it goes below 20°F.

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2005 Stone White KJ Limited CRD 4x4
Off-Road Pkg
Trac-Lok
Emu 790s/948s
Skyjacker H7088s rear/Bilsteins front
15x7 Black Rock Lobos/31x10.50 Firestones
GDE HOT Tune + TCM Tune
Euro TC
CB radio
Thrush Turbo muffler
AEM DryFlow filter