New Owner needs some help.

[hendu]

I've spent the past 3 hours reading posts and my head is spinning from way too much information (I don't know where to start). Any way here it is. I bought a 92 300D 2.5 Turbo Diesel about 2 months ago, with the hope of converting to WVO some day soon. It was great on the day I test drove it, but has quickly developed some issues.

1. Shifts hard when under heavy load, and exhibits "transmission flare" under partial load.

2. I thought A/C worked when I bought it, but was a cold day. Seems to be basically non-existent now.

3. Over the past few weeks it has begun to blow more and more blue smoke. At first it was just a puff leaving my driveway in the morning. Now its a big cloud as I leave a stop light, or let off the gas after accelerating quickly.

#3 is the top priority for me right now. From what others have described through my readings it sounds like worn valve guides, but before I take the plunge into changing them, I'd like to check the more mundain items. I'm going to check for turbo wiggle right now

So what should I look at first, second, third?

I know there are a million and one posts with similiar problems, but for someones first trip to the boards its a little overwhelming. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.