Comments by "Mikko Rantalainen" (@MikkoRantalainen) on "American Reacts to European Diesels COLD STARTS" video.

6:00 As a Finn, I'd call -5 °C nearly optimal for downhill skiing, not "extreme cold". And this Unimog has been poorly maintained to start this poorly in -5 °C.
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@mikcnmvedmsfonoteka You can purchase arctic diesel here in Finland which works just fine down to -30 °C. And if you run something with VW TDI engine, if you can get the engine to start, the diesel pump will heat the fuel filter while the engine is running. And some models will even start to heat the fuel tank if you drive it for long enough.
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@sytricka3318 Cars with diesel engines simply need three things: good battery, working starter motor and fully working glow plugs. It's typically the last one that's broken because with modern direct injection engines you can typically get away with broken glow plugs until it's pretty cold outside.
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3:00 This is Golf Mk2 with diesel engine. The design is from year 1983 and there's no direct injection nor turbo here. And the behavior in this video is just an user error. While the yellow light is lit, you should wait with ignition turned on and start immediately then light goes off. This user is clearly trying to start while the yellow light is still lit. The VAG diesel engine from this era started really poorly if you didn't follow the right procedure (yes, I've driven for multiple years with such an engine).
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2:33 About half the glow plugs of this car are probably bad. It shouldn't run this poorly if it has working glow plugs and correct engine oil for the motor.
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11:37 When the lights in the dash a flicker during engine start, the battery has gone bad. Don't ask how I know.
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@xiro6 Diesel engines never needed lead because the diesel fuel is a lubricant itself. Older diesel engines didn't use direct injection because the injectors were not good enough to use in passanger cars. All modern diesel engines use direct injection and most also have a turbo. During the 1980's turbo was still too fragile to put in passager diesel car. Basically the first great turbo diesel engines with direct injection were made around 1995 by Audi (the TDI engine).
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7:30 VW marketing really failed on this one. The engine is "1.2 TDI 3L" which in reality is 1.2 litre 3 cylinder direct injection diesel engine with a turbo. I have no idea why marketing department slapped the "L" there. Perhaps they tried to communicate that it was supposed to run 3.0 litre/100 km or 77 MPG.
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8:05 The cranking is weak because combination of low battery voltage and vegetable oil. You can use filtered vegetable oil in diesel engines but you should preheat the fuel for cold climates. And never ever put any gasoline in modern diesel engine or you'll cause huge amount of wear. Use isopropanol if your car needs some kind of anti-freeze in the fuel.
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12:40 This is how VAG TDI engines should sound like in -10 or -15 °C. Possibly the only well maintained engine in this video.
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@aronbokodi7487 Unimog 416 with OM 352 A engine does have glow plugs. However, most truck scale vehicles in Finland have "Webasto" which is a turbine heater system to warm up the coolant before you start the engine + keep the coolant hot enough in the middle of winter when the diesel engine cannot generate enough heat to keep the cabin warm. If you warm the coolan with Webasto, you don't need glow plugs.
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@m0ntr3alblau That's acceptable only for older diesels. I wouldn't recommend such a life hack if you have modern common rail direct injection diesel with DPF and turbo. It's better to purchase real diesel antifreeze from store which is commonly available in stores here in Finland. Or just purchase some arctic diesel from local fuel station.
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