Don't have it done. I've had nothing but terrible experiences with so called "professional installers". I've thought about a remote start for my M1009. I'm currently back to school to become a mechanical/electrical engineer, and have designed a system that would hook up to an off-the-shelf remote starter to make it work on old diesels. I have no time and not much money to build it, so I won't have remote start for a while. But I have put a lot of thought into how it would work. There are remote starters set up for a diesel and a standard (where it waits for the wait light to go out and has a sensor that makes sure you're in neutral) but I've never seen one that will also press the gas pedal when cranking. (mine needs that if it's cold)
Cold weather is a big concern where I live, and a major reason that diesels are relatively rare up here. Everything gets plugged in at night when it gets cold. It will get to -40* or even colder at night sometimes. I mix my anti-freeze 70%-30%, because if I didn't, it would freeze if the truck weren't plugged in. I have 2 x600watt block heaters. They are needed.
At school, I have a plug on a post at my parking spot. Everyone does, that's normal up here. (not to belittle all the northerners on here, just making it clear to our southern friends. My buddy's minivan was once the center of attention at a southern walmart because people noticed a plug hanging out of the grill and thought it was an electric van. No joke.) The scary thing is that if there were to be a power failure at the parking lot (not uncommon) there is not much hope for a 6.2 to start at -40* without any block heater. I live almost an hour away from the school, I can't walk (in the cold, we're advised not to be outside more than ten minutes for fear your skin will freeze and die) so it's kinda important the truck starts.
So, last year I bought a 1200 watt gasoline generator for $150, boxing day special (like black friday up here). I've re-jetted it for cold weather, and keep it in the back of the M1009 at all times. If the plug is dead where I have parked all day, or if I'm out working in the middle of nowhere and there is no plug, I go to my truck an hour before I intend to drive, Pull out the generator, Chain it to the bumper and let it run. When I come back, my coolant is warm, and the truck starts no problem. I also have a battery charger in the back, so I can charge my batteries while the engine warms.
Now, I'm sure a lot of you reading this are thinking "that's absolutely ridiculous". And you'd be right. If I could start my truck with my key fob and let it run for 20 minutes every 2 hours, I wouldn't need to haul a generator everywhere I go. So I designed something that would wire into my truck and start it every so often, with a solenoid to press the gas pedal down and temp sensors to start it when it gets cold, but not try to start it when it's already cold cause that'd just be a waste of battery power. Also would connect to the reverse light switch, so that a passer by couldn't hop in and drive away (passing reverse on the way to drive would kill the engine). I also plan to mount my small generator on one of those "back Racks" that is like a shelf for the back of the truck that goes into the 2" trailer hitch receiver. That would free up space behind the seat, and I could wire the generator's electric start into the remote start system so that the generator would start up and shut off to keep the truck warm. It's fuel tank has enough for 6 hours, so if it's on half the time I could leave it for 12 hours and still come back to a warm engine and charged batteries.
It's all a pipe dream right now, as I have no time to mess around. But, later this year when I do get around to building something like this, would anyone else be interested in such a device? A remote start adapter able to start an old diesel truck based on temperature, time of day or with a signal from a cheapo new car remote start unit? (with or without standby generator support). If there is a potential demand for these things, I could build it at the school on CNC equipment so that I could make lots of them. I never thought about others needing something like me
