First Winter with the diesel? /images/graemlins/grin.gif To minimize the smoke and cold running roughness, use the best diesel fuel you can get (not necessarily the cheapest) Amoco premier, BP Supreme and the like. All the suppliers are or should be treating their fuel to keep it from gelling up in the cold and this tends to drop your MPG and increase the smoke while cold a bit too. Use a quality fuel treatment religiously, that'll help too. Otherwise tell her to quit whining and remember how much she's saving on fuel. /images/graemlins/grin.gif
I won't go into the whole oil thing but i will say if you follow the owners manual recommendations on weight and the use of synthetic diesel rated oil, you should be fine. Also, keep an eye on the battery charge state, these cars will not start without enough juice to roll them over fast enough and the cold puts a greater strain on the whole system. Good luck and stay back away from the plow trucks!