Reconditioned engine first start, running rough

[coconup]

Hi forum, I had a bit of an anticlimatic day yesterday when I attempted a first start of this D24TIC engine I have been reconditioning for over a year.

See this video as a reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvTZkiHrkUc

Everything on the engine is new or freshly refurbished: block, head (and its gasket), pump, injectors, glow plugs, pistons, piston rings.. everything.

I have timed the pump following the usual procedure I have already used in another engine I have and I am sure it's correct, although I will double check it first thing. I also primed the pump and bled the fuel lines by leaving them disconnected during the initial cranking, until diesel would start spilling from the injector caps. Finally, I have primed the engine with oil before even attempting to crank it.

It seems to me the engine is running uneven and occasionally misfiring. Giving a bit of gas seems to improve the way it runs (so low idle might be one issue), but even at higher RPMs I feel it's not running right.

Symptoms point me to these possible sources of the issue:
- Wrong pump timing, although just done
- Defective glow plug(s), although all new
- Defective injector(s), although all freshly refurbished
- Defective pump, although freshly refurbished
- Lack of compression in one or more cylinder

My plan now is to check the following, in this order:
- Pump timing
- Glow plugs voltage
- Compression test on all cylinders (sigh)
- Testing injectors

Anything else comes to mind that could cause the engine to run as it does? Any tip is appreciated, I will post results here once I have them