San Diego EFI guru

[brendellajet]

RDP- my bro in law recently purchased a classic mopar that has a Holley sniper EFI kit installed. Has taken it to a shop down there going on 4-6 times to resolve miscellaneous drivability issues. It's starting to look like the shop is just guessing now. He just wants the car to work. Seems like current shop is addressing symptoms by throwing parts at it, and then sending him home to find the next problem.

Any recommendations on someone who will get this thing working right?

 

[Thunderhead1]

RDP- my bro in law recently purchased a classic mopar that has a Holley sniper EFI kit installed. Has taken it to a shop down there going on 4-6 times to resolve miscellaneous drivability issues. It's starting to look like the shop is just guessing now. He just wants the car to work. Seems like current shop is addressing symptoms by throwing parts at it, and then sending him home to find the next problem.

Any recommendations on someone who will get this thing working right?

D1 Performance in LHC is a Holley EFI GURU your searching for.

 

[brendellajet]

Thanks for the recommendation. Hoping to find someone in so cal.

 

[MK1MOD0]

JBA has been around for years. Many friends have had their cars tuned by them. I personally have not had a car tuned there .

 

[brendellajet]

JBA has been around for years. Many friends have had their cars tuned by them. I personally have not had a car tuned there .

Thanks, that's who has been tuning on the car.

 

[rivermobster]

Thanks, that's who has been tuning on the car.

@bonesfab is your man.

 

[Racey]

Does the engine have a big cam? performance motor? or is it relatively mild restoration?

 

[bonesfab]

Holley Snipers are really hit and miss. I have done some that work amazing and no issues. And I have some that I waste way too much time on them and they still don't work right. I am about over the snipers. I have been using the terminators more and a lot less headache. Costs about 500.00 more but the time I waste when a sniper fights me is not worth it anymore. I have a Bronco in here now that we did a sniper on. It will randomly die for no apparent reason. Will make a 20-30 minute drive and not skip a beat and then 5 min into the next one its like some turns the key off. I have gone as far as hot wiring it straight to the battery to eliminate the rest of the electrical system. It is getting a terminator in the next couple of days. And I have fixed more than a few snipers and they work fine. No rhyme or reason.

 

[baja-chris]

Steve Dose
Lethal Dose
Have tuned my Baja race engines
And did my hot Rod bmw

 

[Racey]

Holley Snipers are really hit and miss. I have done some that work amazing and no issues. And I have some that I waste way too much time on them and they still don't work right. I am about over the snipers. I have been using the terminators more and a lot less headache. Costs about 500.00 more but the time I waste when a sniper fights me is not worth it anymore. I have a Bronco in here now that we did a sniper on. It will randomly die for no apparent reason. Will make a 20-30 minute drive and not skip a beat and then 5 min into the next one its like some turns the key off. I have gone as far as hot wiring it straight to the battery to eliminate the rest of the electrical system. It is getting a terminator in the next couple of days. And I have fixed more than a few snipers and they work fine. No rhyme or reason.

Wild.

Frustrating as hell.

 

[minijeep]

Where are you looking? In San Diego I would recommend Dardan tuning in El Cajon.

 

[brendellajet]

Does the engine have a big cam? performance motor? or is it relatively mild restoration?

Really mild car. Stock long block, but unknown internal condition.

 

[J&k beer can]

And this is why I keep my hot rod cars with carburetor.
Why do guys want FI on a old car?
they can go do the modern engine swap or get a new hot rod car..
I have heard from a few guys around San diego that jba has made there cars worse or keep throwing parts at it to try n fix it. and then there's the open check book guys that have had no problems..
My .02
have him spend money on a good carb and be done..

 

[Racey]

Really mild car. Stock long block, but unknown internal condition.

Sounds like bonesfab is onto the problem.

This does not sound like a tuning issue, but some other malfunction, even the box itself possibly.

 

[LakeMeadLavey]

Lance Loader @dunehoon on IG. He is in SD and I believe you have to PM him through IG.
He tunes many of the big HP sand cars and offroad race trucks and is great at trouble shooting as well.

 

[DaveH]

Holley Snipers are really hit and miss. I have done some that work amazing and no issues. And I have some that I waste way too much time on them and they still don't work right. I am about over the snipers. I have been using the terminators more and a lot less headache. Costs about 500.00 more but the time I waste when a sniper fights me is not worth it anymore. I have a Bronco in here now that we did a sniper on. It will randomly die for no apparent reason. Will make a 20-30 minute drive and not skip a beat and then 5 min into the next one its like some turns the key off. I have gone as far as hot wiring it straight to the battery to eliminate the rest of the electrical system. It is getting a terminator in the next couple of days. And I have fixed more than a few snipers and they work fine. No rhyme or reason.

thank you for the honesty with Holley EFI products and this is one reason of many I stay away from them.

but that being said, its entirely possible it isn't an issue with the electronics.

people that work on cars have entirely forgotten how to be a good old fashioned mechanic.

sticky valves/lifters or other valve train issues, exhaust leaks messing with closed loop fueling, large cams giving inaccurate manifold pressure measurements, intake leaks that come on as the engine comes to operating temps.......i could go on and on.......... but in the end, poor mechanical condition of the motor itself often gets blamed on THE COMPUTER because most nowadays are incapable of a proper mechanical diagnosis.

 

[Racey]

And this is why I keep my hot rod cars with carburetor.
Why do guys want FI on a old car?
they can go do the modern engine swap or get a new hot rod car..
I have heard from a few guys around San diego that jba has made there cars worse or keep throwing parts at it to try n fix it. and then there's the open check book guys that have had no problems..
My .02
have him spend money on a good carb and be done..

Because correctly done efi requires no maintenance, starts every time, works hot or cold, summer or winter, no floats, needles or seats to stick and repair.

That being said, there are many shops that do EFI that have no business doing it, because they don't understand the fundamentals of the systems. Big name manufacturers market their systems as "plug and play" but that's almost never the case in the real world. So faulty setups, bad installation, or cheap hardware causes a bad name like this situation.

With EFI the motto is buy once, cry once. Go to a reputable shop that has a name for building harnesses and tuning, don't try to save a $1,000 on a box that will end up costing you $5,000 in headaches while your equipment isn't running or reliable.

If you're a wrench and don't mind doing the semi annual tweak on a carb, or changing spark plugs occasionally, etc, then yeah for sure keep the hot rod carbed. Nothing wrong with that for the right owner

 

[Rajobigguy]

Holley Snipers are really hit and miss. I have done some that work amazing and no issues. And I have some that I waste way too much time on them and they still don't work right. I am about over the snipers. I have been using the terminators more and a lot less headache. Costs about 500.00 more but the time I waste when a sniper fights me is not worth it anymore. I have a Bronco in here now that we did a sniper on. It will randomly die for no apparent reason. Will make a 20-30 minute drive and not skip a beat and then 5 min into the next one its like some turns the key off. I have gone as far as hot wiring it straight to the battery to eliminate the rest of the electrical system. It is getting a terminator in the next couple of days. And I have fixed more than a few snipers and they work fine. No rhyme or reason.

I've had a couple of friends with the same type issues. It seems that the Sniper electronics are kind of iffy, Terminator is a much more robust system with more tunability.

 

[DaveH]

Because correctly done efi requires no maintenance, starts every time, works hot or cold, summer or winter, no floats, needles or seats to stick and repair.

That being said, there are many shops that do EFI that have no business doing it, because they don't understand the fundamentals of the systems. Big name manufacturers market their systems as "plug and play" but that's almost never the case in the real world. So faulty setups, bad installation, or cheap hardware causes a bad name like this situation.

With EFI the motto is buy once, cry once. Go to a reputable shop that has a name for building harnesses and tuning, don't try to save a $1,000 on a box that will end up costing you $5,000 in headaches while your equipment isn't running or reliable.

If you're a wrench and don't mind doing the semi annual tweak on a carb, or changing spark plugs occasionally, etc, then yeah for sure keep the hot rod carbed. Nothing wrong with that for the right owner

my experience has shown two comparable motors, one with a carb and one with EFI.......the efi motor will get at least 20% better fuel economy. something to consider nowadays. the efi motor will also have considerable longevity over the same carb motor.

 

[Mandelon]

Arce Engines

arceengines.com

 

[Racey]

my experience has shown two comparable motors, one with a carb and one with EFI.......the efi motor will get at least 20% better fuel economy. something to consider nowadays. the efi motor will also have considerable longevity over the same carb motor.

Oh definitely, most of these hot rods get driven on the weekends a few miles, the seals go bad from rot before you wear the motor out for other reasons