I'm inclined to take issue with condemning all diesels based on the performance of these Delicas. Consider their design. On these pumps, there is no mechanism for cold-start advancement of injection timing, something that makes a big difference in the cold. Without this, my '84 Ranger would struggle to run after starting just like the Delica. But, by advancing the timing for 30 seconds a few degrees (with a lever on the side of the IP) after glow plugs, off she goes. No "after-glow" needed for most cold starts.Shaun Van Ramen wrote: So my thought is that "Hard to start in the cold" is a price we pay for having diesels.
Nor has the dropping resistor in the after glow GP circuitry been designed to provide heat to the intake like on this and other diesels.
So these Delica's weren't given every opportunity in life in the cold. I wonder if perhaps there is a way to trick a hydraulic advance of the timing with a slave servo on a modified clutch cylinder or some other rig, or just adapt the pump or find one that has the cold start rig.
Edited to include the youtube link of the 2.2 mazda cold-start with manual timing advance. I think that the 4d56 would behave similarly. It would quickly be able to idle without much smoke and, after a period of idling, not smoke to badly under load.