I had a similar issue with idle, until I realized that I wasn’t following the directions. Out of the box, the Sniper is going to idle up around 2k rpm. You have to leave it alone until it passes 160* coolant temperature (when the unit starts learning), and only then can you adjust the idle screw. Also, you do not adjust the idle screw to set RPMs, you turn the screw until the IACV averages 3-10% open. The Holley is responsible for maintaining the idle RPMs you gave it during setup by adjusting the valve. Maybe these don’t apply to your situation, but once I did it this way the setup went super smooth. I know this is an older video, but just in case this helps someone…
Holley sells a retrofit pump for early mustangs that goes where the stock sending unit did. No lines in trunk and no return lines. No tank modification
Glad to hear you like it! I am so glad companies are coming out with these TBI fuel injection systems. I’ve got a Fitech and love it. Sub’d for future videos!
For sure. I can’t believe how many people LS swapped their cars and just for the fuel injection. It was awesome to be able to swap these on in a weekend.
Thanks for posting the video. I recently installed a sniper on my 70 Cougar. Love the unit. I didn’t experience the issue with the min idle setting that you did. I had to build a throttle lever extension to correct the speed at which the throttle was applied. It would chirp the tires every time i took off from a stop before installing the lever extension. I looked at the Sniper tank but did not go that route due to the cost and the lines being on top of the tank making the trunk useless. I used a Spectra Premium fuel tank on my install. Lines and sending unit come out in the stock location. I used hard line from the filter all the way from the filter to the LH fender apron with the routing as close to stock to a bulkhead fitting. Ran the Earl’s Vapor Guard from the fender apron to the Sniper. I have approximately 400 miles on my install and the only issue that I have is the AFR goes lean under engine braking/down shifting. Working on figuring out that issue now.
Sounds like a good install! I'm very curious if the idle issue is manifold related. I may attempt to compare the system back to back on different manifolds if I can to give people an idea of the difference on initial tuning.
Do you have fuel cut off enabled? If so, it will completely cut fuel until your engine settles back down to idle if you aren't pressing on the accelerator. It could be that or your target afr table is very lean on the high vacuum cruising cells. Of course, if you've sorted those other issues, it may simply need to be tuned in those areas. Remember how it ran for those first several minutes while it was trying to figure out how much fuel to supply at idle?
Kevin. Im hoping you can give me some guidance. I just installed the Sniper on my 55 Chevy. I am having the same issue when taking off from a stop. Can you be more specific what you did to fix that problem? thanks
I just did the install on a 1965 GTO 400 in.³ the wiring does take a little bit to sort out looked a little complicated but it wasn’t actually got most of my information off the holley site On RU-vid what is a great big help
Shoutout to you for just saying in the title if it is good or not right in the title. Like I'm repeating myself just to emphasize a point. Keep doing that. Clickbait titles are so obnoxious.
Ive just ditched my 14 month old FiTech (its done 6,300 miles) the FiTech was total junk.. Complete was of money, had so many issues with it, despite playing with all settings. I fitted a Sniperon Sunday and man its100% better.. Starts instantly every time, doesn't cut out every time I stop, and the handheld doesnt have a stupid joystick or pathetic power connector. Wish id never bought the FiTech and got the Sniper first off
The fuel tank was my main issue with efi also. I really hated drilling holes in the trunk. You might take a look at the Gen 2 Stealth tank from Aeromotive. I am looking at that for when I do my brother's car.
Yes, you can. You would have to mount it low enough gravity can assist it effectively as well as add a return fuel line into the tank. There are a few benefits to in-tank such as cooling and the sock filtering or wicking setups.
Thanks for mentioning the Gen 2 Stealth tank. That's just what I've been looking for, for when I do this conversion on my 67 Mustang. Holley has a fuel module also that has pump, pressure, and return that goes into the OEM hole for the Mustang, but I was also looking for fuel baffle for fuel pump. This just became a Summit wish list.
I used the same tank in my '65. I was in no hurry to install the system, so I debated for weeks over drilling holes in the trunk. I finally did but I think I did a pretty good job of keeping it neat.
I'm at the beginning of installing sniper efi on a '69 mustang mach1 with a 428. i bought the dual synch distributor and sniper coil. I also ordered the fuel pump module that is returnless and ordered 3/8 stainless pre-bent fuel line(2 piece) to get the fuel up to the front of the car. The fuel module on this '69 is under the car at the bottom of the tank though.
When I bought my kit they advised against the returnless setup. If I did it again, I would probably do a returnless under the back of the car for simplicity... Not to mention I think their build in regulator is why some of these older units click so loudly.
AmbiVe I wonder if the returnless they advise against is when running an external type pump, where as the pump module I bought contains a built in regulator that just dumps fuel back in the tank. So effectively there is 2 regulators but the in tank one is effectively returning fuel. I just made 625 rwhp on a 2005 vette with in tank stock style returnless. I assume I’ll be good on a lazy 428. Now that I think of it, their pump module doesn’t even have a return fitting on it so that tells me it will suffice. I’ll find out soon.
Nothing wrong with running high pressure fuel hose, I'd argue it's safer than a hard line that could eventually crack with vibration and if you give it enough time it will corrode and leak. Plus the high pressure hose is so easy to run. The system has the return off the unit, just run the 2 lines side by side when you do the install. It's really no extra work.
The Sniper EFI should be engineered to use the standard fuel lines, fuel pump and float level fuel system while using only a pulse fuel injector controlled electronically. That would reduce the installation hassle to the oxygen sensor, the throttle body EFI and the display/computer. That would encourage more people to do the conversion.
False floors are available premade. I think from Mustangs Plus or maybe CJ Pony Parts. Also, If you plan on doing any racing where driveshaft failure is a possibility, I would not recommend using Aluminum fuel line in the driveshaft tunnel. A friend of mine found out the hard way. His driveshaft let go during a quarter mile run on the track and turned his fuel line into confettie.
That was our debate. Fuel lines in the tunnel won't be good in racing, but the only other option will be to take them to the outside like the factory, which means new holes for the return. That maybe a future revision if we track it.
One of the problems is the secondary linkage. In it stock form it opens all 4 throttle plates. I watched a video the other day they got a modified secondary linkage so it opens up the secondary plates after the 40% throttle.
Ideally if you splice in for a clean power source you should use a relay power on from your solenoid feed wire for a clean power source.Also your connections need to be sliver solder with a self sealing heat shrink like 3M makes to make it waterproof.I repaired many electronic wiring issues with no combacks.Just a FYI.
I went the relay route on the 240Z, but decided it was unnecessary here unless I notice system instability. I use a mix of the solder and shrink and crimp and shrink. Both have their applications, some motorsports harnesses only use crimps on fan outs, but I like the solders where I can fit them.
@@AmbiVe I always recommend a quality bosch relay for clean power (30 amps) as you can have a resistance build up if the ignition switch cannot handle the amps going through it.
Nice video. What have you noticed with fuel efficiency? Too bad they didn't have the "Muscle Car" fuel tank conversion kits when you did this. That's the way I'm going for sure.
So far MPG has improved as expected. Throttle body fuel injection is similar at peak to a comparable carb, just more efficient for the rest of the range of use and more adaptive.
Don’t all 4 barrels open at the same time? As far as power off the line you might be able to get the little piece that turns it into a progressive linkage so it’s only 2 barrels opening until about 50% throttle then the other 2 open
For an accessory wire you would be better off using your source as a relay trigger for a direct battery connection. Had the same issue with IAC idle setting. Did the same solution you did. Problem I had was to get the engine up to temp 160 degrees before setting the mechnical idle screw to 50 rpm below optimum idle. To speed up the heating process I set the revs to 1700 rpm but with the IAC out of the picture the ECU was acting blind and actually leaned out a bank. I came close to burning valves.
I didn't have the leaning out issue (according to the AFR on the unit and temperature side to side), but it was very similar in that I had to remove the IACV from the equation to get the idle under 1k rpm in any fashion. Do you know how/why you had one bank pulling fuel and air so differently on the manifold? Stock manifold?
AmbiVe : speaking of intakes.. what intake are you running? Single or dual plane? Carb spacer? Engine displacement? Thanks for any info- contemplating a sniper/ distributor setup as well as in -tank returnless fuel setup in the factory tank location (67 mustang 390 FE engine) preciate any pearls of wisdom!
I removed my FiTech which went bad in less that 1000 mi. and installed the sniper. Turn the key to the on position and I hear the fuel pump run for 5 seconds, turn the key to the crank position and the engine fires for a split second but does not continue to run. i can continue cranking but I get nothing. I can reset the key to get the 5 second fuel pump and it does the same thing each time.
Sounds like you are losing voltage during cranking or you have a wiring issue with how you have the pump wiring. You know the system works because it does briefly, so I would start verifying that everything is getting power during and after cranking that should. What does the display show when cranking and after?
@@AmbiVe I do see the display working during cranking, RPM etc.. I even tried to fake the system out by running a jumper direct from the bat to the pink wire. I used these same wires on my fitech. .
Is the fuel pump staying on during cranking? I would wonder if your FAST EFI didn't die, but something went wrong elsewhere that's also causing issues with the Sniper.
@@AmbiVe that’s been my question. I guess I’m going to have to break into the wiring and test that next. I may do a video showing my problem. It would mostly be a audio to actually hear the issue. Thanks for your input.
We’ll, the FiTech didn’t actually die I was cruising along and thinking to myself , man this things running great I think I’m finally getting a handle on it….Ten minutes later I was loosing power and shortly after found myself dead on the side of the road. After getting it towed home I was able to take a good look at things and what I found was the unit was dumping loads of fuel down the intake. There’s a lot to the story but I won’t get into that here. But ultimately I ended up with the sniper because I wasn’t going to deal with FiTech any more.
Hi brother. Just a question. Does EFIs just fit exactly (bolt holes, opening diameter, etc) where the carburetor is removed from ANY engine? In other words, are carburetors sizes and mounting standard like house hold mains sockets? I do ask because I have watched a number of videos on how to swap carbs to efi and I have find none that warns on the mounting fittings or adopters or anything of that kind. I want to change my 1991 suzuki vitara carb to efi. hence I have been trying to learn how to. Thanks in advance.
Most carbs are somewhat standard, but there are some of the smaller 2 barrel options that are slightly different. For example, I'm modifying a 2 barrel to 4 barrel adapter bracket to fit a 1955 car. It was really close to standard but not exactly between a Holley pattern and the old Stromberg carb. If I were you, I would buy the gasket or adapter that fits the efi you want to use, then see how that fits the current studs on your manifold first. It will give you an idea of what modifications you might need for cheap.
I had a shop install mine and I have an issue where the efi gets this turbo sound at about half throttle that appears to be it's best fuel air mixing point and at full throttle it seems to slow down. Also get a weird whine from the fuel pump at random points when I'm driving. Also it doesnt like me to floor the throttle at under 2500 rpms. It back fires and sputters out. I also have some wire issues and since something draws juice I have to jump my car every time I want to start it
Hey Casper! Hope all is well. After some tuning and getting the vent run the way I liked it the car is up and running for spring. However I am getting a crazy whine from the fuel pump. Do you gave that in yous?. I Recorded it And have an mp3. I thought it might have been some tough bends in the Hardline in the trunk so replaced with ultrapro. Still crazy loud. Any thoughts
Mine is louder than I would like, but some of it can come from cavetation from the pickup being too close to the bottom of the tank or it picking up returned fuel with tiny bubbles. The same pump externally mounted on my 280Z is dead quiet, so I think it should be fixable on these in-tank setups.
@@AmbiVe that's exactly what I think is going on. Maybe got that length a little too percise and it's pinched at the bottom. It's louder then what my old external red pump was which is nuts and not really enjoyable when driving. Always appreciate the responses ! Buddy in arms with 67 Fuel Injection
I had one on order and then backed out. I keep struggling with original vs. modified. Although it all seems so simple, there is a lot going on. My 1978 Trans Am is running with a Q-Jet at the moment, one that is certainly not dialed in correctly. However, it still functions well for highway cruising, just not for immediate launches. After a substantial engine rebuild, the current carb is restricting the power output that I should be experiencing. I am on the fence here. Not sure what the best solution really is. Are most classic car owners switching to EFI?
It depends on budget and what your comfort level is learning something new. One of the challenges you have with carbs is finding someone who can tune them well enough to really get them dialed, then hoping that person doesn't die before the next time you need a tune-up due to a mod, repair, or just the carb getting worn. The benefit to me of EFI is that it makes more sense and is generally more universal in tuners ability to work with it. There's no needing a special brand whisperer who knows the secrets of an xyz carb. There are sensors telling you information and any tuner who can tune an EFI system should be able to do a good job getting it close. Being throttle body injection, there will always be some limitations like carbs that you just can't get past. In a perfect world, you would magically create the money and resources to jump straight to direct or port injection and a completely designed and tested OE quality system.
So it’s not really out of the box fuel injection, this is the third video I’ve watched that say they’ve had issue as well not a good buying point for some one looking at buying this product
It's as out of the box as you will get with a fuel system. Any fuel system, EFI or carb will require installation and understanding how the system works to tune it. Most people just feel more comfortable having an out of tune carb on their car because they can excuse away issues as being due it being carburetted. In reality, any fuel system can run well, EFI just is much more precise and efficient with more complexity.
Can I ask a question...how did you set up the sniper to the brake booster...did it go into manifold also and run off of pcv nof valve cover also..thanks
I pulled from the back if the intake manifold from a source separate from everything else. With my cam, I need as clean of a vacuum source as possible as it's still weak after initial start. The PCV is allowing pressure out of the valve cover and with it oil and fuel vapors, so it's less ideal for multiple reasons. If you are having issues, check the amount of vacuum on the port you're using. If the vacuum is sufficient, it might be a check valve issue with your booster rather than vacuum source.
@@AmbiVe I'm actually just trying to install everything...and was wondering if you ran pcv to sniper to manifold to brake booster...this is a ground up restoration..no tubing to reference off of...thanks
Generally I don't loop the PCV in with the same vacuum sources and the brake booster because oil and junk will build up in the PCV line that I don't want working its way toward the brake booster or transmission. Typically, there are a few different places to pull vacuum from just after the throttle body/carburetor on the manifold. You don't want to use the small ports on the sniper for that unless you have a really good reason as the smaller one is for vacuum advance on a distributor. If you only have one available on your manifold, you probably want to T it right after the connection to the intake manifold and put a catch can or lower spot in the hoses toward the PCV and manifold to prevent build up from eventually clogging or working it's way into the brake booster check valve.
I just ordered one for my car it really seems like a headache to install now holley says they dont have adapter plate for my car smh but he told me when I ordered it everything he had would fit
True, but then you have to restart the vehicle multiple times which has negative effects and wait for the idle to drop back each time. This way you just take it out of the mix, make the changes, then bring it back.
I dont understand why US guys dont use a Swirl Tank in the engine bay to feed the sniper Fueltank->Carb Pump->Swirl Tank->Sniper EFI It all depends how good you setup the Pump from the Fueltank. Think of it as a Semi Returnless system
Assuming you are talking about a swirl tank the same way we do, it would not remove the need for an electric EFI pump. The carb pump won't generate effective pressure for EFI atomization, even with a volume increase of a reservoir. A mechanical pump intended for a carb would produce single digit to high teens in PSI, where as EFI requires 36-44 psi depending on the application. If I were to use a surge tank setup, it would be in order to provide assurance against starvation under sustained g forces, not increase pressure.
I didn't change the linkage at all. Kept the same entire mechanism on my throttle pedal and transmission kick down. I just slid the connecting bar that had gone to the old Carter that was on the car when I got it into the new EFI throttle body connection and clamped it with the same screw. I added a spring to assist in the return as the throttle seemed a little light, but other than that, no real changes.
I believe so. It has options for working with aggressive cams and reads a MAP sensor. It would probably mostly depend if you are getting good fuel atomization/dispersion between cylinders if it has extreme duration and low idle.
Yes, but my driving is extremely aggressive, so it's probably not the best example for what is possible. There is also going to be a lot of impact based on target AFRs selected and timing.
I'm not sure what you are referring to. It's Holley's fuel system end to end with their master kit at the time of this video. The later videos show using their pressure regulating fuel filter system for a dead head configuration.
I didn't have to, but I ended up buying the Holley Hyperspark system so that I could experiment with the Sniper system having control of the spark timing. It has worked pretty well so far.
The 2 barrel version is capable of far more than the 289 needs in both air and fuel (around 350HP NA is the limit I believe). Over sizing a carb or EFI solution results in problems such as having injector leakage and over fueling as well as harder tuning did to the rate of flow increase with peddle input. That's one reason so many hot rods drive so poorly. When I installed the 302 with 330HP, I moved it to the 4150 4 barrel because at that point I would be potentially reaching the upper limit of the 2300 which is about 350HP. The 4150 is good for about 650HP but the minimum horsepower demand is over 200HP which is more than a lot of basic 60s era V8s are actually making. Buying the 302 from Blueprint Engines, I had a definite dyno value with basic accessories to start with when calculating the size. Hope that helps!
I’m thinking of doing same thing on a 302 that’s going in a 77 f100, just not enough videos on this version, I have seen the 4 barrel version has a 1 to 1 on the secondaries not giving good drivability.
You can use an adjustable linkage on the secondaries to smooth it out. I talk about it in one of my other videos on the Mustang. Holley sells them for the Sniper and carbs on their site.
Yes. It is a 2300, which is styled as a 2 barrel setup which is why I had to adapt to my 4 barrel manifold. The 2300 with two injectors is good for 350HP or so, which is well beyond what the 289 can use, and solved the oversize issue the 4 barrel Carter had.
@@AmbiVe thats cool. I went with 4 barrel on my car but I'm hoping to make 600hp. I'm sure the 4 barrel would of worked as well im sure u can lean it out enough. The ecu only puts as much fuel as is needed since it uses 02 sensor. Sounds good and looks like a clean install. I highly reccomend getting usb cable and tuning more with the laptop. There are quite a few features only accessible thru computer tuning such as fuel decel and advance afr target settings.
@@cfmechanic That is true to a point. The system can not reduce the amount of fuel an injector inherently flows, that is why there is a horsepower minimum as well. Oversized injectors or too numerous injectors will place a minimum consumption requirement in place. For instance, two injectors is about 80HP whereas four injectors is about 200HP minimum. It sounds like your build is less street focused, so over fueling at idle or before modifications probably will be of little concern, but keep in mind it is entirely possible to have too much injector much like it is possible to have too much carb. I look forward to seeing your beast in action. Are you going to upload videos?
@@AmbiVe at idle I have my afr set to 14.1 I have tried to go leaner but my engine doesn't like it. Big difference from idle quality from 14.7 to 14.1. My car is a street car that will sometimes see the strip but is a daily driver and I keep tuning as time goes by. Currently i get 12.5 mpg but the temptation is too great to stop on it which does skew the numbers. I would figure I could get 15-17 if I could just keep my foot out of it. I also had very bad tip in with idle around 650-750 but with idle at 825 the harsh tip in is gone.
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