How cold of a temperature was it when you started it? It sounds like a cold related condition. Ive only used block heaters which plumb into the coolant circuit, and have never used a pan heater. Is it possible the pan heater isn't doing enough to heat the engine up? With a block heater on a sub zero morning, when you stand next to the truck, you can hear the coolant moving around the engine via convection. If the engine was hot enough from the pan heater it should start as easy as it normally does on a 70 degree day.
Diesels need fuel and compression to run so the chances of you having disturbed something electrical are slim... Not to say it's not an electrical issue, but most electrical issues on modern engines are failures in code or issues with the ECM. But there again, fuel and compression are the biggies.
I would try the cheap things first such as changing filters.
Algae can grow in fuel and quickly plug filters.
Conall
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