My car ('83 245 turbo, M46) has been doing great in spite of the ridiculously cold temps here in Michigan, but it had a brief problem last night.

I started the car, and it immediately jumped to 2000rpm. After driving to a stoplight and shifting into neutral, the idle slowed back to 900-1000rpm. About two miles later, I start to smell burning. My office is only three miles from home, so I didn't run it for very long after the burning smell started. I popped the hood in the parking lot and saw oil burning off of the exhaust manifold and small splatters of oil on the radiator overflow, the turbo hoses, and the firewall. It looked like the oil was originating at the filler cap and running down the valve cover onto the manifold.

On the way home, neither problem resurfaced. The car idled normally from the start and the burning smell was gone.

Could these problems have been related? Is either related to the cold (-8F actual temp last night)?

Thanks for any insight,
Keith
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1983 245 Turbo, 165K miles; 1987 244 DL, 272K miles; 1980 244 DL (RIP); 1966 Ford Bronco- straight six, three-on-the-tree, NO frills