When I worked in the Yukon we used to put (quite some time ago)
ATF in everything Diesel in the winter time. mind you it was -69C and colder with out wind chill We ran Detroit Cat and cummins and a few odd motors to needless to say they were all old heavy iron , We never gad a gel issues nor any other for that matter . No sludge no smoke just smooth running cranky cold blooded diesels, in more current times i ran a Golf VW that used to drink ATF all winter and never once gave me issues either .
I would never recommend it for the newer stuff and in my 1992 i run the Stanadyne