79 diesel blowby

Bought 79 300TD wagon, non turbo 3.0 engine with 320,000 miles on a well maintained car. Has 3 major, possibly related, problems.
1) Very hard to start. End up having to use ether to get it to start.
2) Will not shut off with the ignition key. Have to pull the rod at the injector pump to kill the engine.
3) Oil consumption/blowby. Burns 1 quart of oil in 20 miles. Removing cap on valve cover shows much smoke.

Thought problem #2 was a bad vacuum pump. Installed two different vacuum pumps. Vehicle will still not shut down with the key. Local VW/MBZ mechanic gave the vehicle a visual check and stated bad motor by viewing the blowby from valve cover. Its hard to believe that the prior owner let the motor get to 1 quart of oil in 20 miles. Is ther another "easy" fix to restore this motor? Thanks, Craig M