This is typical diesel cold starting issue guys.
Diesel do not like cold, bottom line, they like to be nice and warm.
A couple of other things to consider Dan is a "cold front", it is a blanket for your grill to keep the engine warm, you see them on semi's in the winter time.
We used to make our own out of cardboard boxes, I would flatten a box and stick it in front of the radiator, that way the engine stayed warm while idling for long periods and I could have heat in the cab (diesels run colder than petrol engines and actually cool off when idling, especially in the cold)
You need a block heater, I cannot vouch for the Kenlowe system.
Have you called your local dealer?

This is what I am looking into.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...d=250563045949

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...d=230504505150

I know what I posted wont plug into your outlet but this will give you another idea of what to look for, I just Googled "lower radiator hose engine heater"

 

A local dealer in the Swiss Alps?

 

Hi,
I had a look at the links that you posted (thankyou), when I Googled
"lower radiator hose engine heater" I found the same pages in the US that you had found, it would appear they are not available here. I spoke with a couple of independent Land Rover spares suppliers and no one had heard of anything like it only the Kenlowe unit. Last resort was to phone a Land Rover main dealer parts department (UK), they had never heard of it but suggested I spoke with the service department. I spoke with a chap called Anthony who had worked in the US and knew what I was talking about, he looked into and gave me a call back. Apparently there is an engine pre heater pack which they can supply and fit. It needs to be wired into the ECU loom so needs to go on the test book afterwards. It runs off of the battery and takes 3 minutes to pre-heat the engine and can be used down to -25 c. It costs about £125 + 1hr hours labour. He gave me the Land Rover bulletin number LTB 00027V4 so now I will have to go to the local dealer here in Switzerland and see if they can supply and fit it, I will keep you posted.
The other thing he said was to ask them to check the fuel fired heater burner LTB 00309V2 as this could be a cheaper fix.

Dan.

 

My Sprinter has the fuel fired heater and it only works when the engine is running.
LR's may work different.
I find it hard to believe that LR has nothing to heat the engine on a diesel, these things are sold all over the world including the coldest places on earth and they dont have a block heater?
Really?
Here is something to consider Dan, I work for FedEx (so I get shipping discounts), if you have a PayPal account I can buy whatever you want and ship it to you and you PayPal me the money.
I have done this for UrbanPanzer (he lives in London) as there are things he cant buy there.
But keep in mind that it might be cheaper to take it to the dealer.
Or you could buy a space heater and place it under the front of the truck when you go to bed and in the morning you put it back in the house and the truck fires right up.
No matter what you need to pre-heat the engine.

 

You should be able to find a 220v block heater, which is the best bet.
Try these forums
http://www.lrforum.com/joomla/
http://forum.landrovernet.com/forum.php

 

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who took the time to try and help me with my cold start problem. The Land Rover bulletin that I was told about turned out to be for the Disco 3 so in the end I decided to go for the Kenlowe unit. I purchased the H4 unit that has the additional interior heating option. I bought it from Rimmer Bros UK but have only just got around to fitting it (mostly because the snow has arrived and the temp has fallen to -14C!!).
I hadn't been looking forward to the job as I am not that good with mechanics but I eventually tackled it with help from my brother in-law. It turned out to be not too difficult, just a little fiddly. We removed the engine cover to give us a bit more space and had the additional fitting instructions from Kenlowe for the Defender Td5 which was very similar to the Disco Td5. We managed to clamp off the hoses with a mixture of hose clamps and quick release clamps so that we only lost a tiny amount of coolant. Once we had the pump and heater fitted we left the top hose off of the heater and released the clamps and then blew down the end of the open hose to force the coolant around the system filling the pump and heater. We then lowered the hose below the level of the expansion tank to get rid of the air and then with a thumb over the end of the hose until the last moment connencted it to the heater. Once the connections were fitted we ran the engine with the heater bleed screw open to make sure there was no trapped air. We had to top up the expansion tank due to the space in the extra hoses, pump and heater, we had to use 1 litre in all. The electrical connection was drilled through the front bumper below the number plate. I then used the vehicle for a week before plugging in the heater, it works perfectly and I now have no problems with starting the vehicle in the cold. I did have to cut about 15mm from the corner of the engine cover to re-fit it due to the position of the heater.
I did not try to connect the interior heater option as I was concerned that I might end up with no interior heater so if anyone has done this and can offer me advice it would be gratefully received.
Dan.

 

Thank you for reporting back.