Citroen Visa Cold Start - Really Cold Day

Has the car been under water? There's a lot of steam coming from somewhere. Did he wait for the glow-plug lamp to go out on his dashboard? Is he running on summer-grade diesel or veg oil? When was the engine last serviced?

Yes to all of the above, running on regular diesel, it had been out over night and was just really, really, really cold..... thick frost like a covering of snow almost.

So it had been under water?

'Regular' diesel might not be the grade normally sold in the UK for winter use, which contains more volatile fractions to make cold starting easier.

My ZX 1.9D has always started very easily even in the coldest weather (apart from when I've left it so long unused the battery has died).

I've heard of a bus fleet which was converted to 'biodiesel' with much green fanfare in the summer and ground to a halt in the first cold snap because no-one had thought to adapt either the vehicles or the fuel to winter conditions.