View Full Version : Is my Sniper OTL?
Theshandman
11-28-2022, 05:52 PM
I have a BPE 347 Sniper FI.
I have run the engine successfully for a number of cycles, and have go-karted it with no issues.
I cleaned up the air cleaner cover and in so doing, put masking tape over the throttle body intake barrels to prevent foreign object incursion. Then after finishing with the air cleaner cover, reinstalled it. (The bottom piece stayed on the throttle body).
In preparation of hauling the Roadster to a local alignment shop, I attempted to fire up the engine just to ensure all was still well.
No go. Chuffing, puffing, and a few minor backfires but no firing.
Oops. I had forgotten to remove the protective tape covering the throttle body. Ok, I'm an idiot. I removed the tape and now, the engine fires for a second then quits. This is due to the Sniper spritzing a bit of fuel for easier starts but apparently no further fuel progression.
I need to cycle the ignition to begin again. Always the same symptom: the Pro-M fuel pump runs up and stay up, the fuel pressure gauge shows 58psi and holds.
I hear the momentary click of the sniper after 2 seconds of ignition key when it spritzes fuel prior to cranking which it should. Then, when I crank, the engine fires for one second (burning the pre-start spritz) then quits.
I have double / triple checked all Sniper connections, fuses, relays and can see no obvious malady.
My BIG question is, could I have damaged some subsystem in the Sniper by attempting to fire the engine (probably 5-6 times) with all 4 barrels covered with tape? Could the Sniper SW operating system have become senile and gone to the big easy?
TIA, Art
FF33rod
11-28-2022, 06:19 PM
A learning experience :)
I doubt that would have damaged anything though but I'm at a bit of a loss as to what could be wrong now.
First step, I would suggest, is to connect the handheld screen and do a sensor verification - check out page 41 of the Sniper installation manual.
https://documents.holley.com/199r11031r.pdf
If everything looks normal then I'd reset the unit back to the original state. Not sure if Blueprint has their own config file they download or if they just use the holley Standard. Other's may know...
Steve
sread
11-28-2022, 08:05 PM
When you were trying to start it still taped up, I see you mentioned a few minor backfires. I have a Holley Terminator TBI system so not identical but I had an issue where I experienced a backfire thru the intake while playing around with accel enrichment. It popped the map sensor which is located in the throttle body. Mine would start but would die quickly because of no map reading. I'm not familiar with the sniper specifically but if you can access the map sensor value it would be something to look at.
Blitzboy54
11-28-2022, 08:33 PM
If it is broken call Holley. They will repair it, BUT they are running 6-8 weeks on repairs. For us that's fine because winter is coming. For you it will be an excruciating wait.
Theshandman
11-29-2022, 03:11 PM
Thanks guys! One additional symptom I should have mentioned: Almost immediately after the initial firing, the dash gauges reset, just like when the ignition is turned from off to ignition, or off to acc and coincidental to the engine quit. Something it seems is resetting the ignition upon initial start and thus preventing further fire(?). FWIW, I do have two ignition switches, both of which produce no change to the symptom. Now I'm wondering if the injectors (such that they exist in a Sniper) are in 'safe mode' and cause the Sniper to shut down the electronics associated therewith. Queries in to Holley...
weendoggy
11-30-2022, 09:09 AM
Pull your IAC out and check to make sure no tape got stuck in it. Also, make sure your throttle is not completely shut.
BluePrintEngines
11-30-2022, 09:32 AM
Hello Shandman,
Thank you for your post. I am sorry to hear you are experiencing an issue with the Holley Sniper unit. Can you contact us at 308-236-1050? We would be more than happy to assist you with your Sniper issue.
Thank You, Jose
Theshandman
12-03-2022, 03:10 PM
Thanks BPE Josh for pointing out what I should have been able to figure out, which is if the Sniper handheld shows no RPM when cranking, it ain't gonna start thanks to its built-in safety design.
I found the lug on the neg coil terminal (the 'yellow' wire) had snapped internal to the shrink wrap. Took a bit of sleuthing but now she's right.
And as FF33ROD pointed out, it is / was a learning experience.
:o
Theshandman
12-03-2022, 03:11 PM
Pull your IAC out and check to make sure no tape got stuck in it. Also, make sure your throttle is not completely shut.
I did and all looks good there. Thanks!
NYMike
12-03-2022, 10:21 PM
Thanks BPE Josh for pointing out what I should have been able to figure out, which is if the Sniper handheld shows no RPM when cranking, it ain't gonna start thanks to its built-in safety design.
I found the lug on the neg coil terminal (the 'yellow' wire) had snapped internal to the shrink wrap. Took a bit of sleuthing but now she's right.
And as FF33ROD pointed out, it is / was a learning experience.
:o
Glad you got it figured out. That coil signal to the Sniper is extremely sensitive. We had an occasional stumble that slowly got worse and started causing the engine to quit momentarily while driving. We thought it was a fuel delivery issue and it took forever to track it down to a slightly loose crimp on that ring terminal. That’s now the first place I’m going to look the next time we have any issue with the Sniper.
Theshandman
12-05-2022, 10:41 AM
Quick follow up on my original post: Thankfully, cranking the engine with the restricted (taped-over) throttle body barrels did no apparent harm since after resolving the broken coil-neg terminal, all is good. But, until I got that simple but elusive fix implemented, I was going down the proverbial rabbit hole looking at Sniper settings that might have gotten screwed up thanks to my bone-head mistake. And that led me to look for how to expand the functionality of the small Sniper handheld diag tool to my larger laptop PC. In Holley's Quick Start Guide # 199R10546, the PC-based SW is only referenced as "Insert the CD Rom (included with the ECU)...". So the questions are, has anyone used a PC software app associated with the Sniper, and if so, where does the PC connect since the Sniper BPE shipped (550-511) doesn't seem to have an ECU/ECM connector?
FF33rod
12-05-2022, 04:30 PM
Under technical resources you'll find the PC software file
https://www.holley.com/support/fuel_injection/sniper_efi/
You can connect the computer/laptop using a USB adaptor, it connects to the handheld display cable but you don't need to do that to use the software.
https://www.efisystempro.com/sniper/sniper-efi-system-components/can-usb-dongle-558-443
Instead, you can download the config file and log files to the SD card (that fits into the display) and then take the SD card to computer and use the software that way.
Steve
Theshandman
12-06-2022, 04:24 PM
You can connect the computer/laptop using a USB adaptor...
https://www.efisystempro.com/sniper/sniper-efi-system-components/can-usb-dongle-558-443
A USB cable for only $65.67, normally $72.97. I'm in the wrong business! Yeah, ok, so it has a specialized connector...
Seriously, thanks, Steve! I like how that works.
Tuning with a laptop is much easier and more robust than just using the handheld. It also allows for remote tuning and tuning as the vehicle is being driven. With my newest updates on my car, I hired a pro tuner to dial the system in. He did the bulk of the work on a dyno, but put the final touches on the tune sitting in the passenger seat with a laptop hooked up while I was driving the car.
When I installed the system, I bought the Holley Y cable to make it super easy to connect a computer at the car.
Theshandman
12-06-2022, 05:44 PM
Tuning with a laptop is much easier...He did the bulk of the work on a dyno...
...put the final touches on the tune sitting in the passenger seat with a laptop hooked up while I was driving the car.
Papa, that's cool! How did you do the dyno thing with what I'm assuming was your your finished build? And then to do a real time tune; very cool.
Papa, that's cool! How did you do the dyno thing with what I'm assuming was your your finished build? And then to do a real time tune; very cool.
It's a chassis dyno:
https://youtu.be/GOY7IQuik_c