Even with bad glow plugs, the car should have started unless it was really cold that day. Even if it didn't start, the car would have coughed some smoke out the tailpipe.
If the compression was bad the engine would have turned over very easy. It certainly sounds like a fuel delivery problem. Years ago I worked on a Mitsubishi turbo diesel with bad compression. It would still try to start but it wouldn't run. It belched smoke out the tailpipe from the incomplete combustion. It turned over fairly easy as well. I tried swapping in one of those used engines from Japan but it turned out no better. I gave up and ended up getting rid of it.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012