If it's an '87 then it will have the self adjusting followers. My money is on glow plugs. Ohm them. Open is bad. Less then about an ohm and a half is usually good. A bench test will more adequately assess glow plug function, but I've never needed to bench test a glow plug.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.