First start, Holly EFI, no fuel pump

[HealeyBob]

Blueprint engines 427 with 1st gen Holly sniper. I had first start today, and when I turned the key I did not have a fuel pump sound. I ended up directly wiring in a separate battery and it did start. Any thoughts on where to start looking? In addition I seem to have to much pressure from the pump. My manual gage was pegging out and it is a 60 psi gage. I mean it went past 60 and all the way back around to zero on the other side of the peg. My supply side is connected to the driver side which is the other side from the regulator on the inlet. First gens snipers have a built in regulator. Thanks for any thoughts on the two issues. BTW it did start and sounds awesome, although it was very rich.

[HealeyBob]

A quick update. I was looking at the diagram and remembered the inertia switch. I know I had pushed it down previously but it needed to be reset. That fixed the fuel pump not turn on issue. Now to investigate the pressure.

[gbranham]

The 1st Gen Snipers have an internal regulator, prone to failure. Might be your problem, although a failing regulator might result in too low pressure, or unable to maintain pressure.

[HealeyBob]

It is running real rich. I think it is overloading the injectors and drowning it out. I need to investigate my pump and what the capacity of the internal regulator is.

[rich grsc]

My supply side is connected to the driver side which is the other side from the regulator on the inlet The regulator should be on the outlet side

[Papa]

The Sniper base tune will run very rich until the coolant temperature comes up to around 160 degrees. Do you have your full exhaust installed or are you running without the side pipes right now? You want to measure fuel pressure on the inlet. The regulator is on the outlet for the Sniper, unless it is a Sniper-II, which requires an external regulator.

[JMD]

I know this isn’t helpful for this topic or what was asked for in the original post, but I would be wary of running a Sniper 1 long term. It has many documented points of failure and recurring issues, which is why I believe Holley felt they had to revisit the design and come out with the Sniper 2. The Sniper 2 isn’t so much an upgraded version of the original Sniper as it is the version of the Sniper that actually works the way it was originally supposed to.

[HealeyBob]

I called Blueprint and said it may take a while for it to tune itself. I removed the plugs and O2 sensor and cleaned them and let them air dry overnight. I will try again today. I did not download the ECU file as it was Dynoed at the factory. The Blueprint guy said that is correct and to just run it. I will download the last file they had and run it. They had two files available. A Y file and a Z file. I assume the Z is the last.

[Mike.Bray]

I know this isn’t helpful for this topic or what was asked for in the original post, but I would be wary of running a Sniper 1 long term. It has many documented points of failure and recurring issues, which is why I believe Holley felt they had to revisit the design and come out with the Sniper 2. The Sniper 2 isn’t so much an upgraded version of the original Sniper as it is the version of the Sniper that actually works the way it was originally supposed to.

This is very true, the original Sniper is a great idea but poor execution. Sniper 2 is leaps and bounds better.

I recently picked up a brand new Sniper 2 at Summit for $300 in their scratch and dent pile. It's just the main throttle body but doesn't need much to get going, especially if you already have a first gen Sniper. So you might keep an eye out for these types of deals, or even FB Marketplace.

[HealeyBob]

I called Holley and they said I need a regulator before the sniper to bring the pressure down to 60 psi. He said 100 psi could damage the injectors. I bought a 12-880 Holley regulator. Pro tip. ebay has them for $55. Holley is $199. He said to cap off the return line.