December 31st, 2011.
I regret to say to the resident authority above, the set in question started at -20 and -30 below without assist. the fuel tank or day tank was on the gen set, and it was intentionally designed from day one to operate from Hudson's Bay to southern Mexico as a railcar genset. I also regret to say the thermometers all read accurately and she would start and run on straight diesel. At that time straight diesel was also the equivalent of No. 2 furnace oil, but it was running on plain diesel no additives. The Genset is still running in W.Va. 24 years later, and it was the prototype to ones used under RR Business cars and mechanical reefer cars all over North America, Canada and Mexico.
Our resident authority often fails to realize that railroad gensets are designed to stand conditions that only a few military units can match, as they must often run for days on end at full load without any attendence as they power various railroad cars. If the batteries were good, 2- 12VDC Gould's, she would start and the ether was never used, it was the last ditch backup as was the oil pan heater,, with was never applied. The engine itself was modified at the main Deutz plant in Germany to be able to run at about 30* above horizontal as it had to lay on its side to replace an 8 cell battery box under a rail car and not haing down enough to catch a 9" tall rail in a derailment. You forget an air cooled diesel has no cooling water to heat up, so it will fire at lower temperatures then a water cooled unit.... They are used all around the world and are very much a better unit then the American diesels.... And, oh, the reason she was aircooled was to save weight, operable under conditions that no water cooled unit could match, and to protect the cooling system when the car was pulled at up to 105 MPH in either direction. Water cooled diesels in that application either overheat when pulled backwards against the noramal airflow through the radiator, or they eat rocks lifted off the ballast by suction form the passing wheelsets.....
My genset can prove that starting capability any time its -20 to -30, and it operated under a railcar with no protection from the wind and rain other then the carbody above it.
I would replace the MAN with a Deutz if I needed a truck to operate year round under the worst conditions and parts availability anywhere in the world. It might be a jug type engine, but its much easier to rebuild in place also, it might not be a multi but it would eat a Cat for lunch for reliability and cheapness of repairs.
Happy New Year's and don't drink too much, alcohol is no better for humans then it is for engines!
Mine is one of those special ones that does anything better than yours!