In my opinion every Diesel engine benefits tremendously from a dual battery setup in cold weather. Is it a must do? Definitely not, but it's a very good upgrade, especially if you don't have the option of plugging in the block heater. In blistering cold weather, provided the fuel is properly treated, it boosts the cold start chances by a huge margin. With weeks heater kit I have started my Crd on -10F very easy (real-10, no windchill). I have the 7v etecno plugs and I wait till dings/chimes stop. I leave the heater on for about 2 min, then I turn ignition on till dings clear, then stop the heater (I've noticed that the engine turns faster this way), crank, and turn back on the heater once engine started for another 2-3 minutes (you'll know when you can turn the heater off permanently based on the engine sound). So all these are with dual battery setup.
Regarding dual batteries, other than connecting them in parallel, there are some switches and gauges (mainly marine applications) that allow swapping between batteries, monitor each battery voltage independently while both batteries are connected and/or leaving both batteries connected. This is a great upgrade for testing the battery without disconnecting one of them. It may happen that one battery to go bad, or have a cell in short (happened on the Cherokee) and you'll still see 12+ volts on your combined batteries voltage but the jeep computers would go nuts due to the cell short, so a proper dual battery setup would require more that just the wiring and the extra battery. For example with one shorten battery the Cherokee would start but not idle, would throw all kind of mil codes that make no sense, not accelerate properly, etc. not sure how Crd would react but I'm pretty sure not better with all those computers it has...
Regarding glow plugs, definitely the ceramics are the best, not sure if there is any difference between metallic 7v and 5v, but I'd trust weeks as he's using his Crd on more extreme cold temperatures in arctic Minnesot-nuts...
_________________ 2005 kj CRD, samco, suncoast tc, provent, Kennedy lift pump, GDE ECO full torque, 2nd gen filter head, 245/70/16 a/t tires, mopar light bar, fumoto oil valve, OEM Skid Plates, ARB Front bumper and HD OME, tru cool LPD47391 40k GVW tranny cooler (stock cooler delete), FF Dynamics e-fan and shroud, rocker arms replaced, HDS2 190F thermostat.
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