Why I Ditched Holley Sniper EFI 

!!!!!!!!!!!After This Video Holley called Me!!!!! See what happened in the video below!!!!!!!!!!! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q3_YRJiG8_U.htmlsi=ds7Gy7Gf-TygCl29 please subscribe, comment and like!!! thank you!

I've been in the auto parts business for 56 years. My first boss told me something I've never forgotten. "A credit is MORE important than an invoice". If you sell a part to someone and they have a problem with it.....FIX IT! If you do and you do it properly, you'll have a customer for life. If you mess it up or make it hard for him, you'll never see him again. I can't believe you're going to give them another chance. They'd never get another dime of my money. Good luck.

I put a Sniper on my 408 68 Dart and it’s been outstanding. Start up is incredible and it hasn’t given me a problem so far in 3 years

So I had a carb that ran great, went to fitech and I couldn’t get it to run right all the time. Went back to carb but… I took the ECU from the fitech and hooked up all the inputs including the TPS. Now I can data log the carb and make adjustments as needed. If the ECU dies, I’m still cruising.

I'm SO glad I kept my carbeureter! I was Very close to going for one of these units . I followed my gut feeling and waited. Thank you. . This will help a lot of people. I think all the customer service sucks on for all the companies that make them. Especially for returns . I've decided to learn as much as possible about carbeureters and stick with what works reliability.

I think if enough people spent time reading the Holly's EFI website and looking at the issues they would find it may not be what they're looking for. Holly's own website shows that their main issues are cold start drivability issues and fuel economy, all of the reasons most people switch to EFI.

I am an avionics technician and have had extensive training in cables soldering and crimping. I heard your comment on wanting soldered connections and what I have been told in my training was crimp connections are stronger than soldering. I hear all the time in the automotive side that people think soldering is better than crimping and that isn’t always the case. There are times where soldering is preferred but crimped connections are stronger. What you do need to do is provide strain relief for all crimped connections. I use the uninsulated crimps and use heat shrink on top, this provides a clean look as clean as a soldered connection and the strain relief. I do agree don’t use the quick connections from the auto parts stores, I know Napa sells the uninsulated but joints.

I had the 4500 Sniper on my 582 ci bbc and had the same flooding issue that turned out to be a bad unit, Holley replaced quick and easy no hassle. It ran ok for a few 100 miles it then started idling at 2500 at a stop light in an 800+ motor with 0% throttle position and iac at 1%. I went back to carb as soon as I got it home because i was tired of every Sniper issue risking an expensive motor or transmission.

I was seriously considering a Holley Sniper for my '68 Cougar and after watching this, I'm reconsidering. I'm sticking with my Holley 4bbl on it. The Holley EFI systems have too many Chinesium parts in them. I agree with those Carter AFB's/ Edelbrock carburetors. Put a Edelbrock manifold, 4105 and matching Edelbrock fuel pump on my buddy's '75 El Camino. The thing runs like a top. Idle is glassy smooth. I'm sticking to carbs. I'm so glad I watched this video.

I have put two of these Sniper systems on our 1980 P-30 stepvans. They were properly installed by the book, every connection soldered, any extra wires depinned and removed. We have had the issue of rfi causing the hand held to freeze up and also raising the idle speed of the engine. I was on the phone with Holly and the tech guy that was helping me ended up saying the unit was defective and sent us another one, and only the main unit. We installed the new one and programmed it and it did the same thing. Funny thing is is that it would behave fine at first and then after driving around for 30 min or so you would notice the idle creeping up and then the hand held would start freezing. If you shut off the engine and restarted it it would be fine again for about 30 min and then the symptoms would happen again. I got on the phone with Holley again and this time I got a tech guy that was aware of the rfi issues and told me to foil all the spark plug wires and ground the foil so I did. I also foiled the hei distributor as well and grounded that foil as well. That fixed the problem with the rfi. The next problem we had was the secondaries sticking open a tiny bit causing the idle to be high and until we figured out what was happening we were trying to compensate by lowering the minimum idle air and of coarse this means you have to reset your tps as well. Well the funny part is that when you would shut off the engine and the vacuum would bleed away the secondaries would fully shut. We then figured out that the friction in the throttle shaft was too high when you had vacuum on one side of the throttle plates. We tried to fix this by wrapping the secondary throttle shaft return spring one more wrap which did work somewhat... I can tell you that I have spent a lot of time messing with these because of these problems that Holly failed to address before they released the sniper units. If I had put this system on a T-Bucket with an exposed engine that you would be showing off then I would have been really upset since the engine in the stepvan looks pretty stupid with all the foil on the wires and distributor. Hopefully the Sniper2 will be better...It sucks when you tell your boss that we can put fuel injection on work trucks "these p-30 stepvans were A/C install trucks that were driven every day." and then have to explain to him why we are having all these drivability problems. I feel bad for the weekend mechanic that buys this system for his hot rod thinking they are going to have a great trouble free experience with a properly installed Holly fuel injection system...Once again lets hope the Sniper2 is better... I hope me sharing my experience will help somebody that is going through what I went through with these units.

Great explanation and good info for people wanting to do this. Thanks for putting out a transparent video on the Sniper.

SOOOOOOO Glad I stumbled across your video. Installed the Sniper unit on my 87 El Camino over a year ago. Had issues right from the get go. After 6 months, countless hours on the phone and emails going back and forth with tech support, and swapping out warrantied parts, I now have a decent driving car. DD Speed shop did a video a few months back on a dual Sniper install that never worked out of the box. He went back to carbs as well. Another great video that everyone should watch. This swap is not for the faint of heart. If I had a chance to do it all over again I would have stayed with a carb or done an LS swap. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this video!

Thank you for your honesty. I already bought a Fi-tech, haven’t installed it yet but I kept all the carb stuff as a backup.

Your experiences are mine also. I've had to run through installs for friends that claimed these units were junk. Yes, I have had a few bad sensors but mostly the problems encountered were bad wiring, dirty power, plug wires were a big problem, basically installation problems. I have found both the Holly and Fitech units to be reliable but you just can't just throw the them in with Scotch Locks and electrical tape. I understand your position and problems and believe me I've been there too and if I had experienced your problems my solution would probably be the same. I'm currently running a Fitech Ultimate LS injection kit on a 5.3 swapped '68 C10 and love it but it's not for everyone.

Oh man what a process! I have a 64 riv too and it runs great with the original tech. Your wife's riv looks absolutely gorgeous.

I have a 1971 ford bronco with a jasper 302 motor. I just went to fuel injection and I did my research. I almost went with the Holley sniper kit until I met the fitech guys at a car show. I went with the fitech, it had way less parts and a 1/4 of the price. I love it. I went to hot august nights in Reno and the fitech company had a tent there. They pulled me into the tent and cleaned up the parameters to be more efficient. It was the inventor of fitech that got his hands dirty. They now have a customer for life. Customer service is unbelievable and so is sales and tech support.

Man...That Buick is beautiful ! Looks like my 1963 Riviera. Even the color is the same.I hope you keep it forever.

I went through the same thing with a FItech FI. After two weeks and another display still never worked right. Took original Q-jet to a guy that only does Q-jets.He rebuilt and informed me I wasn't alone. I totally trust the carb.

I’ve had nothing but horrible experiences with the Holley Sniper. The only time I personally have ever used one was on my dads ‘82 Mustang GT. He was horribly sick at the time (congestive heart failure) and I had finally gotten the sniper on and running and it was running perfectly, we took the car to a show (which come to find would’ve been the last time he drove the car) and the O2 sensor circuit shorted and burned the harness up and left him stranded on the side of the road. The one experience alone made me throw it in the trash. My brother runs it on his 80 Cobra but he’s gone through at least 4 different head units and it seems like it gets a new one every season 😂 he somehow gets them to send him a new kit every time though without paying for a new one and without receiving the old kit. How? I don’t know. But either way, I gave you a sub. Good content!

Carbs for life here! Been working fine for hundreds of years. I’m in control with my cars and trucks. And they can be fixed in my shop or on the road.

Wow crazy ride they put you through man. By the way I love how you speak and told this example. Articulate, fair, no hate or shade, etc. I really hope Holley sees this. It’s a reminder to companies that customer service is not where they want to cut corners. Anyways love your style and integrity. Subscribed!!!

I'm in your camp. Had original Sniper installed at my regular auto shop and they did a wonderful job,. Started with a new SBC long block, new EFI gas tank, Holley Sniper Master Kit with Hyperspark, in tank fuel pump. All parts were NEW from Holley. It ran PERFECT for approx 2 months. On a long trip it started to "act up" and run poorly. Long story but every tuner shop said it must be the older wiring interfering. This went on for ever until I started reading the Forms. Turns out the injector wiring plug(s) came loose. 1 primary was not sending fuel and 1 secondary was off/on. Yes I know they all work at the same time but it makes it easier to describe. So, I straitened to plug pins and the Sniper now works AMAZING..... until 3 days ago the o2 sensor shit it's pants after 10K miles. AFR is reading a constant 35.6. That's another story. I'll be looking else where for the next motor swap. I've been reading about ACE's Royal Flush EFI. Take a look and maybe offer an opinion. I'm not a mechnic or tuner but I was able to solve my problem by spending several days on the Forms. I'd rather be doing something else. Good luck

Great video, I have a new build, I was on the fence on EFI, decided to get it up and running and broken in on carb. After watching all the issues other people have been experiencing I am holding off and enjoying my ride for now. Added an AFR gauge and O2 sensor to my C10 and waiting to see how EFI kits progress, I just about pulled the trigger on a Sniper and then they released the new unit, feel like I dodged a bullet, sorry about the hassles and hours involved and money.

amen!!! first off thank you for your service. I feel the same way as you I like both fuel injection and carbs. the fi for just saying its fi but for simplicity carb all the way. Im old school people drove these cars every day no issues. every friend I have I see trying to put new tech in old cars have nothing but problems. and its not a matter if its when they have problems.

I did a sniper system on my 70 Impala. All went great and worked for about one year then two temp sensors went out. Of course the sniper doesn’t know what to do without temp input. Went thru Holley tech support. After several tries and long hold times I finally got a tech on the phone. No problem they over nighted me another system. I do think it was a refurbished system but I gave it a try. After 1 week the timing then stopped reading. I also had installed the Holley distributor that works with the system. After over a year of my car sitting there I finally said heck with it and put my HEI distributor and Eldelbrock carb back on. Now I’m back to driving to shows and cruises. Thanks for your video!

I have wanted to do a sniper for a long time. The more I look into it the more I think I’m good with a carb.

If you are comfortable working on carbs, before converting to fuel injection, install a decent air fuel ratio meter. This is a game changer in that you can see exactly what the carb is doing. From there, tuning and/or trouble shooting becomes VERY easy, especially if you have a 4150 or 4160 Holley carb. I have done this on both of my carbureted cars now and they run so well that there is absolutely no reason to convert to EFI.

Good honest assessment, I went down the same path with a Sniper 1 and then back to a carburetor.

Thank you for a fair honest review. I appreciate your explanation and honestly it’s pretty unbiased. For the weekend warriors it sounds like something to wait until more bugs are worked out.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to experience this same thing! Years ago I had a fast easy efi that kept filling my oil with fuel just as you described. It happened to me 3 times. I've sent the handheld and the throttle body back several times and they replaced the hand held and then they said it was the computer. Sent it back and got a new one like weeks later. Flooded my oil with fuel again. I gave up and went back to my quick fuel carb and been running fine since. I'm sorry you had to experience this but I'm just figured with newer technology these days, none of this would happen like you and I had experience.

Well the good thing about this whole fiasco is now you can dial in your carb with an O2 gauge if you wanted to because you have the O2 bung installed in the exhaust.

Thanks for sharing your experience. When I first saw the title I thought it was clickbait, but obviously not. I'm in the market for a Terminator unit, and it's nice to hear both sides of the story, with the possible downsides. In your case, I completely see why you went back to a carb.

Bonjour, I am French from France and I have a similar issue with Holley. I have send back my Holley Snipper 2300 and it takes weeks to have it back to France. My engine is a GOLEN 4.6L 6 cyl that I purchased at GOLEN for my CJ7 Jeep. When I got back the Snipper it works beautifully well but time to time the engine is starting to caught for unknown reason. The Harness is new and the ground is perfect and the Snipper is directly connected to the - & + of the battery. I am lost in France with the Snipper 2300 where Holley Europ do not exist! Cheers and continue to do your video they are very instructive and I like yours comments.

The problem with aftermarket FI is they are changing them every year and after 5-10 years you won't be able to get replacement parts. Carbs are timeless and can be fiddled with to get you home when theres an issue. But as always, choose the system you wish and can afford. Thanks for sharing you experience, it helped me save some $$$ by keeping my ancient tech.

I'm sorry to hear of your problems but appreciate your candid assessment of the situation with the Sniper. Probably the 2nd version is better but it should be and you should have never had these problems. However I want to thank you for letting us know nd I have been on the fence with this thing for a while but agree with you that carbs while not perfect do their job pretty well and can be trusted to do that job forever. There are no software upgrades and the carb will never become obsolete like any throttle body FI will after the manufacturer discontinues support for it. That will never happen with the carb. Thanks again for helping us and your Buick is beautiful.

I run a sniper on a LS1 with a carb intake and an msd 6ls ignition box. my sniper unit was purchased as a reman unit back in 2019 for a huge discount. LS1 has a massive cam, cnc heads, 1.75 headers. I had a surging idle issue when installed but it was due to intake gaskets. After i changed them all was well. Also run a sniper on a 390fe ford with decent cam, edelbrock heads and a billet pertronix dist. Runs perfectly fine. Both units were able to adjust the IAC around 5%. Both hand helds work, no O2 failures. Both cars (69 camaro, 67 mustang fastback) each received a new aeromotive stealth fuel tank, fuel lines and 10 micron fuel filters. Aside from snipers i have an old holley hp unit on a turbo 5.3 lm7, Flawless as usual.

Man , bro I’m far from calling myself a mechanic. But, I tinker around & got my first frame off 64 SS impala fully optioned, matching #’s car. Last I got left was the carburetor installation. So, glad I watched this . ( I’ve never done efi & was thing to do it. You just schooled me & now I can make an educated descision… thanks a million ! ( beautifull Rivi )

What a pain in the ace!!! Great video, and thanks for posting this video. The problems you had are a result of corporate management and the pursuit of profit only. Thanks again.

Glad I watched this. I have an 88 k1500 that we stroked and I’m trying to decide what to go with. Originally, my gut was to go carb but I live where the temps change drastically and I didn’t wanna have to fool with it then I found out about the sniper. Thanks for the rundown.

Great video. Just subbed. Found your channel because of it. Appreciate your honest approach and looking forward to seeing if the sniper 2 has better luck

The first time I seen any of your videos you're not sponsored, I'm subscribing !

I'm a retired mechanic of 36 years. I enjoyed your whole vision. It was great to hear someone talk for that ling and everything you said made sense and aparently you not only know what your doing but know how to say it with out making it sound overly complicated

DD Speed Shop had problems getting theirs sorted out for Power Tour so they dropped back to carb. My goal is to get EFI and AC vintage retrofit training for a retirement gig. I signed up for Holley's training in December. It will be interesting to hear feedback in class and what the Holley reps say.

I recently purchased a blast cabinet from Eastwood. 5 shipments all damaged. Eastwood was on top it from the start. They replaced everything within days. I ended up with extra panels they did not want back. Great company.

Absolutely wonderful an exhaustive explanation of your problem I feel sorry for you for all the BS you went through and dealing with the customer service the return and that is a nightmare but you explained this in such detail covering every last step of what you went through and I appreciate what you did with this video and hope you have a much better time the next time but I have heard in my opinion from what I listen to that they aren't quite exactly right and carburetors can be tuned more fuel economy and power umm that's just my opinion from what I've heard listening to different people with the systems song I sure feel sorry for you the nightmare you went through and thank you for your time to make this video and it sure sucks trying to talk to people who have no idea what they're dealing with and it it is frustrating great luck on the next video and build and God bless you Sir

Informative video, thanks for posting. I was advised a couple years ago by my local trustworthy tuning parts supplier to not to buy the Sniper for the EXACT same reasons you described. Just way too many problems and poor customer service. I might still try the Sniper 2, but I think I may just "pause" a bit to hear more feedback on version 2...!

You may be familiar with "DD Speed Shop". He was putting together a 55 Nomad with a TKX Tremec and a sniper setup for Power Tour. He ended up putting a carb back in the car so he could take the Nomad on power tour. He hasn't given up on the sniper just yet. He says he'll try the sniper in one of his other cars but the carb is staying in the Nomad.

Good review ...thanks, a great point of view. I agree 100% with the expectations of the product QC before it gets shipped as well as shipping to them and then you having to call them , Crazy! I can imagine exactly what you went through and buyers remorse of more headaches than what you or anyone would need. It always looks greener watching a RU-vid from the other side until you go live yourself and issues arise then the real world realities and expenses turn sobering and you get to see how good the company you are dealing with really is. I liked your relaxed explanation and honesty in explaining what transpired. You may be a little too forgiving though. I think I would have blown a gasket!

I went through the same thing brother one year ago on a customer car. You are right on! Outstanding video!

A very articulate and honest video, I've watched numerous videos of people converting to throttle body fuel injection and was always amazed at how little difficulty they had with the installations. Needless to say, those easy installs were always red flags to me. I'm a carburetor guy as far as old muscle cars are concerned, I'm too old to change now. My daily driver Altima is fuel infected, and that's as far as I'll ever go with fuel injection.

I was kinda hesitant to convert to Holley Efi. since im running my car with dual quad Edelbrock and having plans for a 1000 Miles road trip. But after watching your video, im good with carbs for my road trip at the expense of mpg

I was just about to pull the tiger on one to replace my 350 TBI in my 95 Jeep Wrangler, but after your story about Holly's customer service, there is absolutely no way in HELL. Thank you for letting us know how they treat customers.

First time on your channel. Good job brother ! Your vids are clear, no B.S, get right to the point.. … And you found your GO PRO !! Good for you bro ! I will subscribe… thanks !

Yo honestly this is why I quit my job as a customer service rep for a certain Pennsylvania-based mustang parts company, I couldn't stand the way we were trained to treat people, it was exactly as he described it. It literally kept me up at night, as a fellow gearhead I hated seeing people get screwed out of their money, by woke corporate managers who don't know a thing about cars.

"You're either a Holley guy or an Edelbrock guy". *Looks at my Quadrajet and assorted Rochester parts laying around*.... 🤣

Great, informative vidya! Helps me figure out what course to take on my future builds.

Thanks for your service!! Excellent attention to detail this is Exactly the video I needed, explained a lot, 90% of videos do not talk about the small details like you explained your intelligent by doing so those that do not go into detail because they do not want to seem "stupid" are just that, Stupid. Much appreciated again and smooth sailing on your projects and see you on the Road!-Alvaro

Jimmy, this was a very good video and I totally agree with your assessments. I'm running a 292 inline 6, mildly built, cam, higher compression, and some headwork. I had it running really good with an Edelbrock AVS2. I decided to try throttle body injection. I started with a Fitech with inline fuel pump. I now call their system Fijunk. I then researched available systems. I settled on the MSD Atomic 2, because it had inducers in each throat. It is much more tunable than the Fitech and runs much better. I am overall happy with the installation, but I don't think it offers much advantage over a well tuned carburetor. Things I have learned from my experience. I would not recommend an inline fuel pump. I lost two with the Fitech installation. The return flow at idle and low engine fuel flow requirements, is huge. Atomization is key to efficient combustion, especially at idle. Carburetors provide emulsified fuel under the throttle plates, throttle body efi does not. Fuel runs down the walls of the throttle bores at idle. A lot of the drawbacks are lessened with a V8 because all flow is downhill from the throttle body. That is not the case with an inline engine that has long horizontal, dry runners. Again, great video, thanks.

Not being able to just send in your throttle body and having them look at it to see if its bad without having to pull your hair out is damn frustrating, thanks for your service

Thanks for the video. Sorry you had to go through all that BS. I had a Sniper on my 71 Olds 350 and had issues from day one. I got the new fuel tank, in tank pump, lines (both ways), Hyperspark Ignition system, distributor, new plugs wires, basically everything was new. I had a bad sensor out the box, the unit 90+% of the time idled high (1800+ RPM in park). I thought that the "learning" part of the CPU would correct itself over a few miles. It never did. So one day in my driveway a decided to call tech support, they had me go through a couple steps and take a couple readings and it took a DUMP right there. The tech said that I have a bad unit, and they will send out a new one. I was blessed this happened in my driveway (could have been several hundred miles away with the family). So I chose to get a couple Edelbrock goodies and went back to carb because my confidence wasn't there anymore. My return went well because I bought everything at Summit racing. I have several friends running Holley EFI with no issues. I do feel like quality control could be stepped up.

I wasn't subscribed to you because I just came across your video but I am now subscribed to you now. Yes there are haters that are somehow experts at the same time go figure. My guess would be they probably never ran into an issue like this nor would they know where to begin to fix it. Actually waste of time replying to them if they come right out the gate with hate, but finally someone telling the way it is without high dollar sponsors to cover up all that goes wrong before it goes right. So thanks for the Intel of your story and will continue to follow you and look forward to future problem solvers! Thanks bud!

The fact that they had so many returns to process is a glaring indicator that there were too many issues and they shouldn’t have been selling the kit any longer. No way would they be getting my money for an EFI system. Based on the few videos I’ve seen and forums/comments, no way is an EFI system right for me. I just need to learn the carburetor setup and stick with it as it is just way simpler, as you mentioned.

On paper, I have a viable way to use an factory Ford EEC5 on my pushrod engine truck. It will just take a few tweaks but I'm hopeful. Most aftermarket EFI systems are a compromise anyway. The only exception is the one offered by Chris Richards at Mass Air EFI. It is my understanding that when he started, he was using flashed factory EEC4 processors and factory parts for easy field fixes. Sticking with factory parts is key and I expect with the waive of the magic wand, the not so distant future EPA could make anything non-factory by anyone very illegal and could shut down Holley just out of spite and a personal trophy.

I am a DIY guy who also enjoy doing research and learning new things. I have tuned my double pumper carb with the help of an O2 sensor and it gave me many years of good service, until the fuel quality went down the drain and started having hot start issues (even with carb spacer etc...). That gave me the excuse I was looking for to spend the money on an EFI system with a fuel return. I have done my research years before making the move and to me there was enough red flags about the design & quality issues with the sniper system that i never understood why people would still purchase this kit instead of the terminator with an HP ECU. For the differance of price it was a no brainer for me. I totally agree that they are overselling the self tuning capabilities, you either need to enjoy learning how to tune with a laptop or need to get it tuned by a pro, otherwise you will never get the full potential and drivability that these systems can offer. In terms of the lesson's I have learned; these TBI are firing the injectors in batch which is causing resonnance in the fuel system. I highly recomend to add a fuel damper, it made a world of differance for me, not only the noise went away but it had a significant impact on the fuel map from idle through cruising (more efficient injectors with the damper). Also, one thing that i like about the terminator (beside a remote ECU) was that the injection is done under the butterfly valves, which in my opinion is a better design. The counterpart of this is that Holley had to raise the shaft of the butterfly valves to make space for the injector rings. That made the throtle linkage clash with my drop base air cleaner and i had to customise it in conjunction with using a shorter filter element. All in all after 2 years i love it and would never go back. Cold/warm starts and drivability are awsome. I do feel that i have lost a bit of HP at WOT but i will eventually put it on a dyno just to tune the WOT. I am also using the HP ECU with a VSS sensor to control my overdrive, which is great. I can program any condition i want i.e. to emulate kickdown etc... I took the whole winter to make the installation and i have used nothing but the best components (hyperspark distributor, in tank pump/baffle, rigid tubing with some braided hoses, billet regulator/filters etc...). I have a 410 mopar stroker, w2 ported heads, single plane intake, dyno at 505/505 HP/TQ.

First episode I’ve watched of yours. Great information! Thanks for being up front about it. Subscribing now!👍🏻

The aftermarket products are simply not made to the same standards as an oem system on a mass produced vehicle.

I dumped my sniper after awhile as well. I always had random problems. Put a carb on and did 1700 miles on hotrod powertour with no issues. I’m salty about the sniper 2 as well. I wish they had a buyback program for sniper 1 kits.

Man screw them haters your doing better then me building my car 73 mercury cougar no money life's going crappy so u keep u good work and older is better lol

Jimmy, we all have stories of lousy customer service and warranty, and this story certainly turned me off EFI on my Coronet, but the biggest take away I got out of your video, was the value in chassis dyno tuning. You can engine dyno a motor, and not get the best result for your vehicle when it is installed, but chassis tuning, and even road tuning, will get the best result for your cars circustance. So glad to here someone else make this point. my 750HP runs absolutely great in my car, and all done by chassis dyno, and road tuning with an air fuel ratio meter. Invaluable. Like you said, don't try fixing what isn't broke, especially if it is gonna cost you 3 grand and a lot of sweat (and heartbreak).

Typical corporate America bullshit. I almost pulled the Qjet off my Vette for a Sniper. Glad I changed my mind and stuck with the carb.

bummer to see Holley still lets customers test their products . I had nothing but issues with my sniper and had to ship it back once , I found defective regulators . bad o2 etc .. your experience mimics mine of 6 years ago .. so Holley is still not getting quality control

I enjoyed listening to this guy. I bought a fitech fuel injection set up for my 69 camaro. I got news for you, my car did not even start. I just crap canned the thing and went back to proform 850. I have had enough of this stuff.

Brilliant real time info, sorry you had issues but thanks for sharing them 👍

Yup, the Sniper isn't all that...ran one 5 yrs ago, had software issues, no mechanical problems, found out after a week of tweaking it had updated software, that I downloaded...got the idle issues sorted out, but always had odd "glitches"...sold the car to a friend, and a month later the ECU crapped out...really sad that they are not designed with long-term strategy

Same with me- the thing with snipers is they are meant to be so ‘simple’ plug and play that’s what sucks everyone in.. but the reality is the simplicity goes out the window by the fact that when they go wrong it’s very complex… that’s fine if you have good support but Holley don’t

I am no mechanic, but over 10 years ago I did a self install Sniper conversion on my freshly built 1974 Oldsmobile 350 and have never regretted it. I tuned it myself copying and slightly altering A/F & timing maps or tables others posted on the web for similar engines, dialing it in using trial & error with on road testing. Unfortunately local dyno shops said they won't touch an older car. Sorry to hear the Sniper didn't meet your expectations. I generally prefer simplicity but in my case I had nothing but misery trying to get decent drivability with a Quadrajet, including a rebuilt from a prominent specialist, and didn't want to gamble on a new carburetor from another brand.

I purchased a 71 Chevy Cheyenne with a 350 V8 and Holley Sniper EFI. It started up and ran good when I got it but would always die when coming to a stop. I didn't have time or the expertise to figure it out. The unit was loading up the engine with fuel, fouling plugs and filling up the crankcase. Numerous attempts to fix it and countless hours with customer service finally ended up with a new replacement kit. It took 6 months to get my truck back. Mechanic had to send them my original first to try to repair it, they sent it back and had the same problem. It was a very long painful process. The truck is running great so far with the new kit installed, but I don't drive it as much as I would like because I work so much. I am hopeful that this unit will last a long time. However the small LCD screen died so now I have to see about getting that replaced.

I recently watched a youtuber go through the Sniper nightmare. DD speedshop built a ratty 55 Nomad for power tour, and reached out to Holley. I don't know if they paid retail or got it heavily discounted, really irrelevant. They went with w dual quad Sniper system on a small block. It was nightmare after nightmare and after redoing everything multiple times it all got yanked, a carb bolted on and made Power tour without a single problem...

I really recommend checking out Luke Finley's carb cheater system. Basically a data logging o2 with a idle self tuning and cruise self tune options at your selected afr, it uses a idle air control valve to adjust your afrs while crushing and idling.

I have a big block 500 in.³ Cadillac engine in a K5 blazer they tried to talk me into the sniper set up. I was hesitant and put a brand new Edelbrock on it. I agree 100% with your video. Thanks for the info I feel so much better not having listened to people that have put them on a big block Cadillac 8.2 L have a good holiday weekend.

I thank you, for the info. 👍🏼 I heard about the Sniper, a week ago. And then getting the 2bbl one, for my ‘67. But, I think that I’ll just get another carb. And keep it mostly original!

When "DD Speed Shop" decided to put dual Snipers on his Nomad for power tour and had problems, customer service looked at his subscription numbers and answered his phone calls immediately and worked closely with him and quickly sent him a carb and everything he's need to install it quickly because he was releasing RU-vid videos daily about the whole fiasco..... It's obvious that somewhere during the process Holley became a sponsor..... Finnegan, Taylor Racing, KSR, etc. all have business relationships and get all of the customer service that regular schmucks like you and me are being deprived of, so they all LOVE these products and are paid to tell you so!...

Wish i would of saw this video early today. I just sent my my throttle body back today due to no spark issues. After being on the phone with tech support various times today they came to a conclusion that the ecu in the throttle body was toast. Cost me over 70.00 to ship back and to replace the ecu is 250.00+tax. And 4-6 weeks to get it back. Now im thinking i should just switch to carb instead! Great video.

Thank you for this video. I’ve been on the fence about ordering one.

Another note, I have always thought OEM fuel injection systems are the best way to go. One of the reasons I went ls swap was I wanted fuel injection and the ls comes with it, and the factory system can support good power numbers unlike the earlier systems. I get this isn’t an option on your application and you are probably better off using a carb. You don’t have a max effort build so a street friendly carb will do fine. Years ago I had issues with my Holley 800 double pumper flooding, it was constantly getting rubber in the needle. This was around the time ethanol was added to the fuel and the auto parts stores fuel line wasn’t compatible. I hope today that it is. Carbs are plenty reliable and they were used for daily drivers for nearly 100 years.

Holley technical support is horrible! Their quality control is also lacking.

My sniper was dyno tuned with the new engine from Blueprint. Haven't had any issues, and it's been running about a yr now. Awesome throttle response, lots of power, starts right up every morning, cold or hot. Had some wiring issues when I first stabbed it but their tech support walked me through it and got it all connected. With it coming with a 30m/50k warranty, I'm not too worried about issues. I've been happy with it so far. I do have a Holley 850 double on my stoker mustang. Been debating going sniper with it. I hate the cold morning starts and studdering till it gets hot. But it has been on the car for 20yrs now with little issue other than the power valve getting stuck open occasionally flooding the engine. I'm sure it helps that I only use 100% gas, no ethanol. It prob would have died a long time ago if I didn't.

I am a Motörhead of over 40 years build and tuned all of my cars mostly my self, l have learned to keep it simple and try to not let it get out of my control. My cars are all rowdy high horse power big cube, big cams high compression, carburetor engines and are not dally drivers and my wife can drive them.

Carb for me.

I run a 1850-C with electric choke. its a reliable daily driver carb no complaints with a holley car. Also military on my last few years till retirement. I daily drive a 460 carbbed truck. Nice video

Thank you for this video. Nice Riv! My Sniper Quadrajet had the points output die, no spark. Sent it to Holley 6 weeks ago. Pretty bent that my car is collecting dust, and it's going to be out of warranty so it will be another $250 for the ECU replacement fix. My set-up: 1969 Oldsmobile 442, 400CI, 3-spd. Sniper Q-jet, Hyperspark ignition and dizzy, returnless holley in-tank musclecar fuel pump, MSD 8830 noise filter, MSD Superconductor plug wires, Radium engineering fuel pulse damper.

I never felt the temptation to try that this video confirms why. My carbs always run and are simple and easy to fix if I break down on the road.

I just ran across your channel, and glad I did. A friend bought a used Sniper one, and I will tell him about your issues. I am an old school carb guy that got training by Mitsubishi for EFI, Bosch Licensed , in the mid 80"s. Factory equipment, as you said, has the research. You can't go wrong with a carb and points, or MSD. Stay away from Pertronix, just my opinion. Good luck, and glad I found your channel.

I put a Sniper on my 66 Mustang 351W and had nothing but headaches and misery . 5 different experienced EFI tecs tried to find the problem, they all gave up and said go back to carburation. So I did and have not regretted it one bit. Lesson learned.

Hey brother, Thanks for this video! After listening I think I'm going to stick with the carb I have and use the money saved from not buying it on other things for my car. Thanks again!!

i love carbs,i enjoy tuning them,i had my 850 apart 6 times till i got it how i wanted.old school.

I'm with you I believe you sound like you know what you're talking about to me you were very thorough you went through everything so all the people that are being negative they don't know what they're talking about you know what you're doing I'm 60 years old and I can tell if someone knows what you're talking about and you do keep up the good work Steve from Annapolis Maryland

good info, I have been on the fence about these units and have only seen a few videos that have had any luck making one of these work out the box, now they updated unit for a reason.

One of few RU-vidrs not bought by holly just got a new subscriber

Your issue sounds like what I went through with Pacbrake over air bag system. Nice ride!