Frustrated Sniper Owner

[elwaupo]

I installed a Sniper on my 69 Camaro in 2018, no problems until 2020, called Holley and they were great and replaced it, worked great until last week. Car just dies after it runs, traced the wiring and can’t figure it out. I’m thinking of just going back to a carburetor, much easier to diagnose

[Larry Callahan]

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble.

Have you tried the Holley forum?

https://forums.holley.com/forum/holley-efi/sniper-efi

[btmatt]

Holley FI products (really all of them) are very finicky on power feed and grounds. Had similar problems with a buddies truck and did the following:

1. Permanent power to the battery;
2. All grounds to the engine block;
3. All switched power to a sealed relay with feed power fed directly form the battery; corrosion in the relay caused all kinds of headaches.
4. use quality sealed connectors and marine heat shrink on all splices and terminals

his truck has run great once we got that mess straightened up

[Olds.PhD]

I'd definitely second the Holley EFI forums. Lots of knowledgeable people there. You'll definitely need to take a log of the issue - that'll be the first response you get over there. It is step one in any kind of EFI diagnosis. "just dies after it runs" doesn't tell anyone anything. I log every single drive, just in case something goes wrong so that I can go back and see what happened and how to fix or tune it. I haven't had to look at those logs much over the past few months, as the car is running pretty well, but they're there if I need them.

Best of luck.

[elwaupo]

Thx guys, that’s good advice, I’m guessing it has to be a power source, it will probably be something simple that is right in front of me. I actually do like this Sniper. I’ll check on the Holley Forum too

[elwaupo]

Thx guys, that’s good advice, I’m guessing it has to be a power source, it will probably be something simple that is right in front of me. I actually do like this Sniper. I’ll check on the Holley Forum too

[streetk14]

A lot of EMI and RFI type issues with those Snipers. I had similar issues, and tried every trick in the book. I did eventually fix it after a lot of time and money. Lots of good info on the Holley forums, but after my experiences with the Sniper I’ll probably never buy another Holley EFI system again. I just don’t feel that any of them have the OEM level of reliability I’m after.

[dhutton]

A lot of EMI and RFI type issues with those Snipers. I had similar issues, and tried every trick in the book. I did eventually fix it after a lot of time and money. Lots of good info on the Holley forums, but after my experiences with the Sniper I’ll probably never buy another Holley EFI system again. I just don’t feel that any of them have the OEM level of reliability I’m after.
I recently installed a Holley HP EFI with the Terminator Stealth Throttle body and Hyperspark ignition on a small block Chevy. Not a hint of EMI RFI issues. I followed good layout and wiring practices and kept the ignition box away from the ECM. Andrew tuned it up for me and it runs great.

Next up is a Terminator X Max with a small block Chevy and 4L60E.

The Sniper is a different animal with the ECM in the throttle body adjacent to the distributor. Not a good environment imho…

Don

[streetk14]

I recently installed a Holley HP EFI with the Terminator Stealth Throttle body and Hyperspark ignition on a small block Chevy. Not a hint of EMI RFI issues. I followed good layout and wiring practices and kept the ignition box away from the ECM. Andrew tuned it up for me and it runs great.

Next up is a Terminator X Max with a small block Chevy and 4L60E.

The Sniper is a different animal with the ECM in the throttle body adjacent to the distributor. Not a good environment imho…

Don

I agree that the Sniper issues are mostly due to the ECU location and lack of proper shielding. That said, I’ve seen a bunch of weird stuff with various Holley EFI systems. There’s definitely some pros to going with Holley on something like an LS application, but I don’t think any of them can hang with something like an E38 from a reliability standpoint.

[dhutton]

I agree that the Sniper issues are mostly due to the ECU location and lack of proper shielding. That said, I’ve seen a bunch of weird stuff with various Holley EFI systems. There’s definitely some pros to going with Holley on something like an LS application, but I don’t think any of them can hang with something like an E38 from a reliability standpoint.
I agree with you on reliability but in the case of a small block Chevy etc, Holley is likely the best option.

Don

[streetk14]

I agree with you on reliability but in the case of a small block Chevy etc, Holley is likely the best option.

Don

For sure. I don’t think the Holley stuff is any more finicky than similar options from FiTech, FAST, etc.