duratec - hot start and other issues

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hi all.

i have a 2.0l duratec in my caterfield. i have only owned the car 3 months and the previous owner bought it from the local race school, so details of the spec. are non existent. it appears to be running the standard fuelling with the damper halfway along the fuel rail and has a water rail fitted and an electric coolant pump.

first off, i found that the car has trouble starting when hot. pretty annoying when coming in to refuel on a trackday! i thought it may have been due to fuel boiling in the rail and still do. when i take the return line from the fuel damper and crank, i get no flow.

however, last time i took it out i resorted to simply idling when in the pits. the car did 2 solid hrs with myself and a friend swapping over every 20mins and ran fine until it came time to put it on the trailer. it had been switched off and left to cool, started fine but the power died and the engine struggled to idle whenever i touched the throttle.

have been away for a couple of weeks but last night i started the car. it fired first time and idled fine, but whenever i hit the throttle the revs dropped and it struggled, with the exhaust making pops and bangs. the only way i could get it to rev was by going very gently. only over 3-4k rpm would it allow fast throttle inputs.

any ideas where to start? i am a reasonable mechanic when it comes to spannering but pretty useless at diagnosis.

i am thinking of a new rail, adjustable regulator when the ITB's i've got are installed over summer. however there's still 2 months of our track season left and i want to finish it without having to fanny about waiting for parts to arrive etc.

any help will be greatly appreciated.