If the smoke is definitely blue and hangs, it's oil smoke. If it's white and reeks of partially burned diesel fuel, you have a glow plug problem, possibly along with a valve stem seal problem. The contacts in the relay have been known to burn, causing poor current flow to the glow plugs, hard start, and white smoke/miss until the combustion chamber heats up.

Bad valve stem seals with give about a quart in 1000 miles oil consumption, possibly more.

If it starts right up, you don't have compression problems.

If you have very little oil consumption, get the relay checked out or replaced before getting excited. There is NO WAY you've worn that engine out yet! It doesn't even have enough milage to cause the head gasket to fail, the first usual problem. I have 179,000 on mine and climbing!

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!