Very noisy Sniper 2. Holley say this is normal

-
H

Headintheclouds

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2021
Messages
110
Reaction score
42
Location
UK
I have fitted a Sniper 2 to my 318 and it has a ticking like really bad lifters that seems to be caused by the injectors. I contacted Holley. The first guy I talked to agreed it was really loud and I was passed up the chain. A supervisor had a listen to the video and says this is normal. The Sniper 1 is quiet but apparently the "improved" injectors on version 2 are much louder. I don't know of anyone else nearby with a Sniper 2 so I don't have a reference. Anyone have an opinion?
Is it possible to upload video clips to the forum so I can share?
I have tried a pulse damper at the Sniper and another at the tank but they don't seem to make a difference.
 
I am using sniper 1 with a pulse damper mounted on the throttle body and there is no abnormal noise to speak of. I would be interested in hearing what it sounds like. I would be thinking the same that an injector ticking noise would be abnormal
 
Post the video to YouTube then link it here. The few snipers I’ve heard are fairly quiet but I have definitely heard some loud aftermarket injectors before. Also the old gm TBIs were obnoxiously loud with the air cleaner off.
 
I don't get any noise from my TQ...except at WOT when that famous TQ roar turns heads.....
 
Headintheclouds said:
I just found a YouTube post with similarly noisy injectors.

about 10 mins 30 seconds in.
Click to expand...

I have no experience with these systems, but with regards to that injector noise, personally I would find that really annoying. And unacceptable.

Something else in the video I would find annoying, if this were my car, is the “hunting” of the idle speed. The guy keeps saying, “It’s learning….”, and maybe it did (or will) settle out, but I sure hope he’s right, as that doesn’t seem normal.
 
Last edited:
I don't think it was warm enough to be learning at that point and he hadn't set the throttle plates at that stage. I think that's an easy fix. I am very happy with the operation of my system but for the din it makes. If it were as quiet as a friend's Sniper 1 I would be a very happy chap.
Holley support has been quite good so far but as I'm in the UK their offer to look at my unit if I send it back isn't as helpful as it might be. Unfortunately they don't have a UK agent who can swap out for testing.
As I plan to use the car on a regular basis and as far as I know injectors are not available as spare parts - unlike the Sniper 1 - I have caved in and bought a second unit so I won't be stuck without the car when the noisy Sniper 2 goes back or at a later stage if something packs in. This arrived today so I hope to get it swapped out over the weekend and see how loud the new one is.
My suspicion is that the quality is variable and quality control poor so it's a bit of a lottery how noisy an individual unit will be. I will keep you posted but my current advice is, if possible, try to listen to a few at idle before you part with your cash.
 
It's baffling that anyone would consider the noise coming from those injectors as normal.

I have dual quad FiTech efi and I couldn't imagine 8 injectors clanking away like that.
I'd go bananas.

I don't have any experience with Holley efi, and I am not and would not claim FiTech or any other brand is better.

However, I don't forsee Holley admitting those injectors are ridiculous and should never have even went out the door.

Also, their offer to look at it if you send it back, inconvenience yourself and make your car non-running for months, is just as ridiculous.

Here Holley, take my thousands of dollars, make all my hard work a waste of time, and make it up to me by telling me it's normal.

Excuse my frustration, been there, done that.
 
My friend had a shop put a Sniper 2 on his '72 350 chevy around 2 years ago and it does not make any noise at all. Silent.
 
Any chance you can find out whether your friend was running return or returnless?

I have just fitted a replacement Sniper 2 and it sounds pretty much as bad as the first one. I am running returnless with a pump in the tank. I tried running a temporary rubber fuel line from tank to Sniper with pulse dampers on both ends but it didn't make any difference.

One of the guys on Holley support suggested that having a return might quieten it down some but equally it might make no difference. Perhaps I am expecting too much but I would have hoped the Holley tech staff would have had some better answers. I feel as though I am doing unpaid research and development.
 
Just for chicks & jiggles, I looked up the operating fuel pressure,.....50-65psi....that's a lot of pressure for a TBI. I'm sure the 'new & improved' injectors have stronger springs & more powerful coils to maintain precise control, & may have components that are more alcohol resistant that transmit more noise. Early Chrysler TBI's only operated on ~15psi, the last of them ran much higher pressures, just standing next to one w/o the air inlet/filter assy sounds just like that. With silenced air intake systems, & much better sealed & sound deadened engine compartments, it is better minimized......having 4 of them out in the open, it's not a surprise they are loud.
What are You seeing for fuel pressure at the throttle body??
 
I couldn’t live with that noise and I love EFI. I would switch back to The Sniper 1 and send the other two back.
 
I'm really puzzled that only a few others seem to be complaining about the noise. I still haven't heard first hand from anyone with a quiet Sniper 2. It could be something to do with my installation or even that I have two bad units.
It may be that for Mopar engines with the distributor behind the EFI so don't suffer RF interference the Sniper 1 is a better bet. Also, the injectors on these are readily replaceable. However there were plenty of folk who reported ECU issues and I don't know if that was really resolved. Apart from the noise the Sniper 2 seems better and I like the integration with the Hyperspark distributor.
I don't notice the noise when driving along. Just at idle. Will probably try a bit more sound insulation but I would love to find a proper fix.
What was really good about changing over the units was that it took a very few seconds to download the config file from the first unit and upload to the second. After that was done I had all the settings back other than a minor tweak of the butterfly valves. A carburettor swap would not have been anywhere near as easy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top