Thanks for all the answers. I will have a compression check done.

The starting fluid did not produce even a sputter or burned smell or anything. I read a lot of the dangers, too. An act of desperation, perhaps not a smart one but it did produce some food for thought.

The filter changes I did when I first thought that the idle was poor. The valve adjustment and injector test were done not long after after it stopped idling on diesel. I guess the glow plugs were a coincidence, the light no longer came on. The other things were done later in hopes of reviving the engine.

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84 300SD with Greasecar vegetable oil kit. Boston, MA