Does anyone her have one? Can you start the engine with the heater plugged in or do you have to shut the heater off first?

I don't see any reason you couldn't start the motor with the heater plugged in.

I'm not sure it's a good idea to use a remote starter. Diesel motors often don't warm up very well, or at all, with no load on them. Idling a diesel while it's cold can cause "wet stacking" where unburned or partially burned fuel leave deposits that can reduce engine performance, or worse. The best way to warm up a diesel is to apply a moderate load after starting it and the oil pressure comes up (5 - 10 seconds after starting it).

As you probably already know, the engine heater is meant to make it easier to start, not heat it to the point of normal operating temperature.

Dont forget that we have a viscous heater on the CRD that will bring the coolant up to temp even under no load. Probably wont prevent the wet stacking but will help to keep things warm under no load.

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It may be that your only purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.

06 CRD Sport
Built 5/11/06
Jeep Green
Rocklizard diff cover
V6 Airbox

The viscous heater at idle doesn't do much either.

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'06 CRD Sport, Silver build date 09/05
LoTek 2 pod pillar w/60 psi boost guage & egt
CRD Frankinlift, BFG-AT 31-1050/15 on crager soft 8's
Suncoast converter in a rebuilt trans with new pump and shift kit.
Yeah, It's got a diesel.

SOLD FOR GMC PICKUP

I agree. I want one real badly too, especially one that has a delay-off / turbo cool down feature after removing the key. But, for cold winter mornings, I don't think it's a good ideaon a diesel motor. I guess if you were just going to use it for hot summer mornings and you werent going to let it idle for more than 3 or 4 minutes before getting inside, it'd be OK. But for the winter, you are best off letting it run for a minute after starting it up, then accelerating lightly for the first 4 or 5 minutes, then accelerating normal.

Don't take this the wrong way, I like my CRD a lot - my first diesel. But they are quirky motors with a lot of nuances. You trade convenience for durability with these things - you have to take a couple of small precautions if you want to capitalize on it's long service life without a lot of costly repairs down the road.

Put the remote starter in your gas car

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'05 CRD, Midnight Blue. Every option. Nice ride, idles like a garbage truck

Get an aftermarket one if you do. I went with an 'OEM' one when we purchased ours and it has zero options besides an immediate start and a 30 second delay. There are ones out there with turbo timers and valet mode built in for cheaper than the 'OEM' one.

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Ryan
2006 Ford F-250 PSD CC FX4
**GONE**
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD
SAMCO Hoses//GDE Tune//PML Trans Pan//TransGo HD Shift Kit//MBRP Exhaust

1986 2R Mustang SVO

I'll second RTStabler51's recommendation.

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My Jeep Liberty page

ORM, air filter mod, and less restrictive exhaust has increased my 'everyday' driving 3 mpg.

Old wives tale. As long as the heater probe (screwed into the block) is surrounded by coolant, it should not be damaged. It will also assist some in warming once the engine is running and coolant is circulating. This is a common practice on buses with long coolant loops to the HVAC heater cores. However, it is considered a good practice (required by many transit co.) to unplug the heater before starting the engine to prevent driving away with the cord still attached.

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2005 Liberty Sport CRD, Lt Khaki, sunroof

Thankful to now be an EX-CRD owner.

In my VW TDI, I put on a ZeroStart coolant heater and loved it. A guy from TDIclub was marketing a kit that he had made up with precut hoses and brackets. Put it on a timer and the car was already warmed up and ready to go in the morning. That car took forever to warm up, otherwise. One time I had to drive home in an ice storm after work and was in the car for almost two hours. Since I never got above 30 mph, I never did get any heat. That was a cold drive! If I had a place to plug in at work, it would have been a much more pleasant drive.

I don't know if you could put one of those heaters on the CRD very easily. It is already so cramped under the hood. If someone could figure it out, that would be the way to go if you were wanting instant heat on a cold morning.

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2005 liberty Sport CRD

I have one of these, w/7-day timer & remote: http://www.espar.com/htm/Specs/water/hydro5.htm

Bought it here (same individual that worked w/Old Navy & got us our Fumoto valves...very honest...highly recommend): http://www.lubricationspecialist.com/product_info.php?cPath=8_36&products_id=121&osCsid=08afc714fd6c048051ef6297daa8b52e

But, I haven't had time to do the install yet. Costly but certainly should do the trick.

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2006 Jeep Liberty Limited CRD w/275000 miles

I wonder why they do not heat RV's with things like Espar Air Heaters..

I would love this on MY RV.,.. It seems more efficent than the Propane Furnace that My RV has..

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2005 Liberty CRD Sport Silver
Full MOPAR Skids
Rusty's 2.5" Coil Lift
235/75/16 Cooper Discover ATR
www.stephenallcroft.com

Isn't that just called starting it up and driving it? I'd like a definition of whats considered too cold because I like a remote starter to get rid of a frosty windshield.
-c

If you need a remote starter you are not manly enough to drive a CRD

Yes exactly. The best way to warm it up is to start it, wait a few seconds, and then drive it. Using a remote starter to let a diesel warm up, or defrost the windshield is bad idea.

Are you a nut or what???? Using a remote starter to let a diesel warm up is not a bad idea....been doing it for 20 years on diesel engines. Don't knock it till you have tried it...DUGH

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06 CRD build date 5/15/06

DUGH! Do some research...it is a bad idea. Well, maybe not if you live in Texas.

To heck with the research... try 20 years of using them with no problems. DUGH!!! Don't talk about something that you have no idea what you are taking about. You are popping off about something you read..which is not true.. and you have had no first hand experence in using a remote starter.

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06 CRD build date 5/15/06

Why do you say I have no experience with a remote starter?

Also, the point here is that letting a diesel idle for a long time while it's cold is hard on it, regardless of how you start it. The faster you get the motor up to normal operating temperature the better. Some diesels will idle for hours and never get even close to normal temp.

Ford builds a system into their PowerStroke engines that increases the idle speed and puts back pressure on the exhaust when it's cold out and the engine idles for more than a minute. This loads the engine enough to allow it to warm up on it's own. They did for a reason.

Post a question, or do a search on a VW TDI website, such as www.tdiclub.com. You'll get the same answer.

Your argument that "I've always done it this way" really doesn't mean anything at all to me.

Old wise tails about letting a diesel idle will hurt it. Have 3 diesel tractors that have more than 10,000 hrs on them. Some have been left idle for 8 hrs at a time. Not one engine problem. Look at the diesel train engines they are left idleing for days on end sometimes. I have had 15 different diesel engines in my life time and and never and I repeat never had a engine problem by letting one idle. But of course I run good quality diesel engines.... No Ford junk.

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06 CRD build date 5/15/06

The "Old wise tails" is that it's good to let any motor warm up for a long time before driving it, especially a diesel. The modern thinking is that most wear occurs before the engine is up to temp. and the least amount of time running while cold the better. In addition, diesels have the wet stacking issue, and that's no old-wives tale.

Once an engine is warm idling still isn't great for it, but no where near as bad as cold idling.

Trains, ships, other large engines do have systems that carefully control engine temp. while idling.

Actually International builds the motors, not Ford.