Are there cliff notes somewhere to summarize this holley shit show?
CK5
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my holley sniper story from the start --- UPDATE : the story END'S NOW !
- Thread starter sweetk30
- Start date
T
tenderfoot
Guest
Sounds like you need to call Holley everyday and bug the piss out of them?
Stressing this point
Stressing this point
yep right here in a new sticker i have coming .
1 - handheld problems on first fire up
2 - 2nd handheld d.o.a out of the box
3 - fuel mileage 6.25 mpg average so far around 500 miles and 30-45%tps at most 90% of the driving and only a few highway trips of 5-10 miles the rest is in town or country roads of 45-50 mph
4 - tech support help on there forum they don't baby sit or care about = crap treat you like a 2 year old right from the start by site admin and senior members
5 - have to use sniper program on a REAL computer to tune it 100% = NOT SELF TUNING like it shows on the box and also you DO need a computer unlike what the box shows
6 - wait time for parts replacement is kind of long and i had to ask my 3rd handheld be shipped faster they never offered it to me and the tech guy still had to get this o.k'ed from a higher up
7 - wait time on the phone can be long . . . but then if you wish to talk with the same tech person they do NOT have assigned ext#'s to use . you MUST wait yet again on hold to speak to them so this can more than double your wait
8 - emails seem better but almost every one i have got is at the end of the next day returned
9 - they love to avoid specific questions and or never acknowledge them at all
10 - they love to blame it on rfi interference for the routing of the units wires and such . this to me = crap product quality knowing it will be next to this kind of stuff and the wiring is super stiff
11 - the tech suport info can be a huge hit or miss . i asked the same question 2 x to 2 different people and got 2 totaly different answers that were 2 ends of the spectrum apart
12 - throttle arm is to short for correct throw ratio almost all people buy or build an extension arm for this and it also makes for a super stiff pedal
13 - self tuning is deactivated from all i have read on there forum and f-b page if you turn on progressive linkage to make it more like a carb with the quick fuel linkage part installed for the 2ndary link
14 - my idle air control is now acting up with random high idleand showing 0% iac and 0% tps positions and even does this driving on the road good thing i have 1ton brakes and hydroboost or i might not be able to hold it still
15 - coolant temp sensor is a known holley problem they wont fix or replace everyone just takes and buys there own replacement unit for 8-20 bucks and then drop over a gal of coolant out / swap it / refill and wasted time 20* off to the hot when cold and 16*-18* off to the cold when hot and they say this is NOT a problem . . how does it mix the air/fuel ratio's correctly when cold and also when hot this could be a problem with low temp t-stats installed as it switches at around 160* range unless you set your own switch over temp .
16 - intake air temp is in the unit and gets massive heat soak my truck has true cold air feed with the stock closed air filter system and duct to the front of the grill the other day it was 25*F out side and it took over 3 miles of city driving to go from 122*F heat soak down to high 50* showing as the temp . again how is this to mix the ratio correctly if your not up to temp and running off the o2 sensor
17 - found lots and lots of ecm replacment posts on youtube / forums / f-b page of holleys sniper
18 - heard of lots of people returning there units and getting refunds with no problem unlike me .
19 - started seeing the used take off market jump up on ebay for these unit now with few 100 miles or few months run time
i am sure there is more but this should be a good quick skim / low down of my problems with product / support / and others with the same i have found .
1 - handheld problems on first fire up
2 - 2nd handheld d.o.a out of the box
3 - fuel mileage 6.25 mpg average so far around 500 miles and 30-45%tps at most 90% of the driving and only a few highway trips of 5-10 miles the rest is in town or country roads of 45-50 mph
4 - tech support help on there forum they don't baby sit or care about = crap treat you like a 2 year old right from the start by site admin and senior members
5 - have to use sniper program on a REAL computer to tune it 100% = NOT SELF TUNING like it shows on the box and also you DO need a computer unlike what the box shows
6 - wait time for parts replacement is kind of long and i had to ask my 3rd handheld be shipped faster they never offered it to me and the tech guy still had to get this o.k'ed from a higher up
7 - wait time on the phone can be long . . . but then if you wish to talk with the same tech person they do NOT have assigned ext#'s to use . you MUST wait yet again on hold to speak to them so this can more than double your wait
8 - emails seem better but almost every one i have got is at the end of the next day returned
9 - they love to avoid specific questions and or never acknowledge them at all
10 - they love to blame it on rfi interference for the routing of the units wires and such . this to me = crap product quality knowing it will be next to this kind of stuff and the wiring is super stiff
11 - the tech suport info can be a huge hit or miss . i asked the same question 2 x to 2 different people and got 2 totaly different answers that were 2 ends of the spectrum apart
12 - throttle arm is to short for correct throw ratio almost all people buy or build an extension arm for this and it also makes for a super stiff pedal
13 - self tuning is deactivated from all i have read on there forum and f-b page if you turn on progressive linkage to make it more like a carb with the quick fuel linkage part installed for the 2ndary link
14 - my idle air control is now acting up with random high idleand showing 0% iac and 0% tps positions and even does this driving on the road good thing i have 1ton brakes and hydroboost or i might not be able to hold it still
15 - coolant temp sensor is a known holley problem they wont fix or replace everyone just takes and buys there own replacement unit for 8-20 bucks and then drop over a gal of coolant out / swap it / refill and wasted time 20* off to the hot when cold and 16*-18* off to the cold when hot and they say this is NOT a problem . . how does it mix the air/fuel ratio's correctly when cold and also when hot this could be a problem with low temp t-stats installed as it switches at around 160* range unless you set your own switch over temp .
16 - intake air temp is in the unit and gets massive heat soak my truck has true cold air feed with the stock closed air filter system and duct to the front of the grill the other day it was 25*F out side and it took over 3 miles of city driving to go from 122*F heat soak down to high 50* showing as the temp . again how is this to mix the ratio correctly if your not up to temp and running off the o2 sensor
17 - found lots and lots of ecm replacment posts on youtube / forums / f-b page of holleys sniper
18 - heard of lots of people returning there units and getting refunds with no problem unlike me .
19 - started seeing the used take off market jump up on ebay for these unit now with few 100 miles or few months run time
i am sure there is more but this should be a good quick skim / low down of my problems with product / support / and others with the same i have found .
so we have a bit of a update :
i have been emailing them back and forth with no results . they want me to keep testing this and that at my own expense and fuel waste . i finally said NO MORE !
i asked them for a refund & or swap out for a new sealed in the box unit take mine as a defective & or a summit racing credit for my unit i will send back to them and they send to you . . . . . they said NO your past the 90 day from purchase warranty date and we are still trying to help you to the best of our ability's here . . . and did you ever do the last test we asked ? ........
i already told them i am not doing any more testing at my expense yet they still ask . . . .
i got a bit smarter so i figured ...... but nope i guess not . i told them they had 48hr's / 2 biss days or i will contact the sate of new york attorney generals office for a fraud case . they still wouldn't budge on my unit and all its problems .
well 1 last ditch effort i did on my lunch break was dig around youtube for 10 min max time and i found around 8 video's the first page only with the same problems as me or worse . they all got there units fixed with way less hassle and faster than me by the comments in there reply's to others in the video asking questions . funny thing was the date of these video's was all in the same range of my units batch date and for the most part a 90day bubble of time or a little more . and 1 guy had a unit d.o.a out of the box and another had a 200 mile d.o.a. unit . . . .
so i fired off a email to them again with all of these video links and said look here all these people got better service with less hassle and basically all had new ecu units installed in them . why have i not been afforded this option ? ? ?
please send me a shipping call tag from YOU to pick up my unit and ship it back and test it . i will include a copy of all my config files and data logs so you can do a full diagnostic on this thing and then repair / replace or give me a whole new unit when your done with a proof of clean bill of health from your testing department that its good to go .
i finally got a real response from them and a ship tag
so more of this story will be coming to light here soon . sunday i have to remove it from the truck so it will be down a week or so by the time this is all done . so in the mean time
i have been emailing them back and forth with no results . they want me to keep testing this and that at my own expense and fuel waste . i finally said NO MORE !
i asked them for a refund & or swap out for a new sealed in the box unit take mine as a defective & or a summit racing credit for my unit i will send back to them and they send to you . . . . . they said NO your past the 90 day from purchase warranty date and we are still trying to help you to the best of our ability's here . . . and did you ever do the last test we asked ? ........
i already told them i am not doing any more testing at my expense yet they still ask . . . .i got a bit smarter so i figured ...... but nope i guess not . i told them they had 48hr's / 2 biss days or i will contact the sate of new york attorney generals office for a fraud case . they still wouldn't budge on my unit and all its problems .
well 1 last ditch effort i did on my lunch break was dig around youtube for 10 min max time and i found around 8 video's the first page only with the same problems as me or worse . they all got there units fixed with way less hassle and faster than me by the comments in there reply's to others in the video asking questions . funny thing was the date of these video's was all in the same range of my units batch date and for the most part a 90day bubble of time or a little more . and 1 guy had a unit d.o.a out of the box and another had a 200 mile d.o.a. unit . . . .
so i fired off a email to them again with all of these video links and said look here all these people got better service with less hassle and basically all had new ecu units installed in them . why have i not been afforded this option ? ? ?
please send me a shipping call tag from YOU to pick up my unit and ship it back and test it . i will include a copy of all my config files and data logs so you can do a full diagnostic on this thing and then repair / replace or give me a whole new unit when your done with a proof of clean bill of health from your testing department that its good to go .
i finally got a real response from them and a ship tag
so more of this story will be coming to light here soon . sunday i have to remove it from the truck so it will be down a week or so by the time this is all done . so in the mean time
Kain
3/4 ton status
Hope you get it sorted out soon
oh man do i fell better even tho i have no truck to drive now . i fell a huge weight lifted off me . time for the next step in this prossess and ship it back to them for what ever there going to do .
ready for the snow storm this weekend .
1 used electric fuel pump .
1 used EDELBROCK 1411 750 carb ( on loan from a friend )
1 fuel filter and 3 foot of hose
1 toggle switch to turn pump on .
suck fuel up return line from tank with adapter pipe fitting i flaired up to clip in and give a hose barb to clamp to .
1 used electric fuel pump .
1 used EDELBROCK 1411 750 carb ( on loan from a friend )
1 fuel filter and 3 foot of hose
1 toggle switch to turn pump on .
suck fuel up return line from tank with adapter pipe fitting i flaired up to clip in and give a hose barb to clamp to .
and the best news to date : 2 plus months back and forth with holley tech and test after test still all the weird problems . they took the unit in for testing and said it passed 100% perfect but what ever i still would never trust it .
a supervisor called and asked what can they do to make me happy ? so we talked and made a deal i could live with . so as long as the unit makes it to me and back to its new home and they get there o.k. verified threw the guy at holley i have moved on from this unit and look to start a new chapter in another thread with MUCH better results . so until that thread starts or i just update a older thread here i sit waiting
a supervisor called and asked what can they do to make me happy ? so we talked and made a deal i could live with . so as long as the unit makes it to me and back to its new home and they get there o.k. verified threw the guy at holley i have moved on from this unit and look to start a new chapter in another thread with MUCH better results . so until that thread starts or i just update a older thread here i sit waiting
Holy Crap! By this time I would have gone CRAZY! I'd still make a youtube video getting the word out these units SUCK. Just sucks sinking so much money and time into that and having those problems.
Curious if this person would help other people. I haven't messed mine on a laptop yet, but if someone else already has a good method down it saves me the trouble. I'm not having any trouble with mine, but if it could run even better that would be awesome.
@Shawn n you have no idea how much it has effected my life in the last few months . and sadlly some has trickled in the my ck5 land and now i can just put this all behind me . i told them i would go on my chat forum thread and just say in the end they stepped up and made it right . yes i am still out the time / fuel it drank / extra money for stuff there unit didn't cover yet it was shown to on the box and i left it at that . if you want search yahoo and do holley sniper problems and see what pops up at the top or near the top . . . 
my word is out there and can be seen with a few simple key strokes . and i still have my new custom made stickers to get ordered yet from a good sticker guy i know 
@mrk5 i will ask him if he can look over your gcf and data log files . he seem supper cool said he has done over 12 dozen snipers and mine was the first unit he has dealt with somewhat with this many problems . and each tune he was giving me back did make a good improvement in fell . and i didnt even have timing control on it yet so i could have been even better . but at this point it was a good thing no timing control setup yet .
my word is out there and can be seen with a few simple key strokes . and i still have my new custom made stickers to get ordered yet from a good sticker guy i know @mrk5 i will ask him if he can look over your gcf and data log files . he seem supper cool said he has done over 12 dozen snipers and mine was the first unit he has dealt with somewhat with this many problems . and each tune he was giving me back did make a good improvement in fell . and i didnt even have timing control on it yet so i could have been even better . but at this point it was a good thing no timing control setup yet .
so i can report this update :
used edelbrock 750 carb from friend and used electric pump run the truck fine and its sucking fuel up the 5/16" return line from the tank . . . i do miss efi tho .
and on the bonus side i have been plowing a lot of snow the last 48hr's and driving all over town . . . . and only used 1/2 tank of gas
so i dont care that holley said the units fine and tests good . there was something wrong with it . cause i could do 3 trips to town and back and use almost as much fuel .
looks like Tuesday ups will be dropping off my sniper and then i will ship it right out to summit for my refund .
used edelbrock 750 carb from friend and used electric pump run the truck fine and its sucking fuel up the 5/16" return line from the tank . . . i do miss efi tho .
and on the bonus side i have been plowing a lot of snow the last 48hr's and driving all over town . . . . and only used 1/2 tank of gas
so i dont care that holley said the units fine and tests good . there was something wrong with it . cause i could do 3 trips to town and back and use almost as much fuel .
looks like Tuesday ups will be dropping off my sniper and then i will ship it right out to summit for my refund .
no not directly . long story . but after all is done i will post up the full details . like i said it took me over 2 months but i got what should have been done ..... DONE !
another week or so and we should be good so stay tuned for the story .... its a funny one on why they said some of my problems were the way they were .
I hope you find a carb or efi system that you can live with. Falling for the seduction of aftermarket EFI reminds me of that movie "The Crying Game"......
@Greg Ducato the only mod working good so far as advertised was some guys th400 gov-mod to fix the stock shift speed's . . . .
and i have been watching here and other places and searching and asking a lot from reg guys like us how they like the edelbrock pro flo 4 unit and so far its good stuff .
and i have been watching here and other places and searching and asking a lot from reg guys like us how they like the edelbrock pro flo 4 unit and so far its good stuff .
received the unit today . . . . more on this after its all done .
sent out to summit racing 1 hr after i received it . opened just to verify all was as i sent it .
tapped it up and shipped it off to the land of i dont want it any more . hope by the end of the week i can order my new setup i have been keeping my eye on .
sent out to summit racing 1 hr after i received it . opened just to verify all was as i sent it .
tapped it up and shipped it off to the land of i dont want it any more . hope by the end of the week i can order my new setup i have been keeping my eye on .
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Hope the new setup works great and doesn't give you any issues.
Still confused why this didn't work.
Still confused why this didn't work.
well the reports from others on the unit i have been watching have been nothing but SUPER from guys here and other forums .
and in the last 2 almost 3 months of reading searching i have noticed a huge up-tick in posts with problems for the snipers compared to older posts . more posts per week than in the past from looking back . and a little birdy told me he gets a lot of calls with major problems on them and fitech but hardly ever on edelbrock efi systems .
all i can say is the sniper has a lot to be corrected and made right for it to be a real carb replacement option . read my pin point list above for a lot of it .
oh ya and my right foot/ankle is so happy now with the soft pedal like stock with the temp carb over the STIFF AS HE!! sniper setup even with a extension .
so here is the rest of the story ............
they wanted me to keep testing things for the problems i was having with high idle at random times / pour fuel mileage @ 6.25mpg in 500 miles / didn't even once offer to fix the known defective included temp sensor problem . i told them at 500 miles i am DONE testing this / that & wasting my time / gas and raising my stress level as some of you found out on here was very high and for this i am SORRY !
i told them in a few emails i wish to return this item as its defective and not working as advertised online / parts store ad's / info on there box even is all a lie / miss leading . i was told we will keep helping you test it and send replacement parts as needed to me even tho your out of warranty ( more on this later ) . i said no thanks i am done just give me my money back or i will file a claim with my state's attorney generals office for faults sales ad and defective products . they still would not budge on this and never gave me a straight answer on a lot of stuff i asked about or requested be fixed .
then 1 day i was killing time as i eat my lunch and went on you tube and typed in " holley sniper problem " and the first page up of results was 8 links to video's of my exact problems or worse and all these people commented they were taken right care of and fixed up super fast by holley . 1 guy had a d.o.a whole unit out of the box on install . another guy had 200 miles and doa had to remove it and each time it was a ecu unit basically . so i fired off yet another email to them with these 8 video links to you tube and said all these video's were posted from the 90-100 day window of my units date of purchase and IF we assume they all put there units in to service within the 90 day warranty bubble then my unit could be from the same batch of defective units . so send me a pre paid shipping tag and i will pull this unit off and send 100% of it back for you to test at your time in your shop .
so they finally agreed to this email so i took the unit off and sent all of it in wish a list of problems / defects / tests to be done . i even included ALL my saved gcf tune files and ALL data logs from day 1 to let them look the whole unit over from every angle . well they called me after they tested the unit and said they could find NOTHING wrong with the sniper and its parts . so we can include a free i.a.c motor unit so if it acts up yet again i can swap that out my self at my expense and time . ( why wouldn't they just do it ? ? ? ) ......
so he the tech guy asked me what i wanted to do ? i told him to be honest i don't ever wish to see the unit again in my life time and give me a refund . he said he is not able to do this as he is not a supervisor . i said well i have asked to speak with one in emails or phone calls and been steered away from this in the past so if one is willing to talk fine i will talk . so they sent the unit back to me .
45min later my phone rings and the supervisor from holley tech is on the line ..... this is were it gets good people !
in talking with him he blamed my truck for the crap fuel mileage as i have 4.10 gears / 33" tires and th400 NON overdrive trans and its going to suck fuel its what it is . to this i replied with my facts of well the truck is built basically the same as the 1 i replaced it with and it has the axles / trans and few other parts from the old truck in it . i also went from a 35" FAT 12.50 tire to a 33" skinny tire for less rolling resistance / drag . i even told him the old truck also was factory gm efi and the motor was setup from gm for efi . the old truck wasn't even working 100% correct on the efi and would give me 11-12-13 mpg range doing the same driving and work load . he then said well i have seen 2 identical cars and 1 gets better mileage than the other and he couldn't explain why that was so . . . and i had to deal with it .
so i told him NO i do not have to deal with it cause when the unit shows up i am selling it to some unlucky person and taking a huge loss on it cause i am to honest to lie about it and get full price for it . so i guess i am screwed and will just have to deal with it . he then said well what do you want then ? i said the same thing i have asked for from the start a REFUND or CREDIT at summit racing ! . . . pause for around 5 sec and he said fine write this down and when you receive it send it to summit and include this note and they will get there credit from us to pass on to you . i said thank you and why couldn't this have happened long ago and we both hung up .
this unit / company has caused me so much stress for such a easy fix they didn't want to do from the start its not funny at all . i am not even a drop of water in a 55 gal drum at the end of the days sales why could they not give me my money back to start ? ? ?
and the 90 day warranty is from date of purchase NOT install like a lot of good parts places are doing . he also couldn't give me a answer on how the warranty was set up for a lot of guys to be screwed . cause who can build a vehicle by them self in there spare time from scratch and be done in 90 days ? and you have to have the parts to build around to make the vehicle complete the first time . seems real shady to me . yes they have offered a lot of after warranty help to a lot of people but if you do not stand up and fight for whats right lots of people will and have just tossed in the towel and lost a lot of hard earned money on a pad product and crap customer service .
so i hope this helps someone make a informed choice before thinking of purchasing a product and heck maybe i just got a bad unit who knows the truth i don't know ? ? ? CASE CLOSED
they wanted me to keep testing things for the problems i was having with high idle at random times / pour fuel mileage @ 6.25mpg in 500 miles / didn't even once offer to fix the known defective included temp sensor problem . i told them at 500 miles i am DONE testing this / that & wasting my time / gas and raising my stress level as some of you found out on here was very high and for this i am SORRY !
i told them in a few emails i wish to return this item as its defective and not working as advertised online / parts store ad's / info on there box even is all a lie / miss leading . i was told we will keep helping you test it and send replacement parts as needed to me even tho your out of warranty ( more on this later ) . i said no thanks i am done just give me my money back or i will file a claim with my state's attorney generals office for faults sales ad and defective products . they still would not budge on this and never gave me a straight answer on a lot of stuff i asked about or requested be fixed .
then 1 day i was killing time as i eat my lunch and went on you tube and typed in " holley sniper problem " and the first page up of results was 8 links to video's of my exact problems or worse and all these people commented they were taken right care of and fixed up super fast by holley . 1 guy had a d.o.a whole unit out of the box on install . another guy had 200 miles and doa had to remove it and each time it was a ecu unit basically . so i fired off yet another email to them with these 8 video links to you tube and said all these video's were posted from the 90-100 day window of my units date of purchase and IF we assume they all put there units in to service within the 90 day warranty bubble then my unit could be from the same batch of defective units . so send me a pre paid shipping tag and i will pull this unit off and send 100% of it back for you to test at your time in your shop .
so they finally agreed to this email so i took the unit off and sent all of it in wish a list of problems / defects / tests to be done . i even included ALL my saved gcf tune files and ALL data logs from day 1 to let them look the whole unit over from every angle . well they called me after they tested the unit and said they could find NOTHING wrong with the sniper and its parts . so we can include a free i.a.c motor unit so if it acts up yet again i can swap that out my self at my expense and time . ( why wouldn't they just do it ? ? ? ) ......
so he the tech guy asked me what i wanted to do ? i told him to be honest i don't ever wish to see the unit again in my life time and give me a refund . he said he is not able to do this as he is not a supervisor . i said well i have asked to speak with one in emails or phone calls and been steered away from this in the past so if one is willing to talk fine i will talk . so they sent the unit back to me .
45min later my phone rings and the supervisor from holley tech is on the line ..... this is were it gets good people !
in talking with him he blamed my truck for the crap fuel mileage as i have 4.10 gears / 33" tires and th400 NON overdrive trans and its going to suck fuel its what it is . to this i replied with my facts of well the truck is built basically the same as the 1 i replaced it with and it has the axles / trans and few other parts from the old truck in it . i also went from a 35" FAT 12.50 tire to a 33" skinny tire for less rolling resistance / drag . i even told him the old truck also was factory gm efi and the motor was setup from gm for efi . the old truck wasn't even working 100% correct on the efi and would give me 11-12-13 mpg range doing the same driving and work load . he then said well i have seen 2 identical cars and 1 gets better mileage than the other and he couldn't explain why that was so . . . and i had to deal with it .
so i told him NO i do not have to deal with it cause when the unit shows up i am selling it to some unlucky person and taking a huge loss on it cause i am to honest to lie about it and get full price for it . so i guess i am screwed and will just have to deal with it . he then said well what do you want then ? i said the same thing i have asked for from the start a REFUND or CREDIT at summit racing ! . . . pause for around 5 sec and he said fine write this down and when you receive it send it to summit and include this note and they will get there credit from us to pass on to you . i said thank you and why couldn't this have happened long ago and we both hung up .
this unit / company has caused me so much stress for such a easy fix they didn't want to do from the start its not funny at all . i am not even a drop of water in a 55 gal drum at the end of the days sales why could they not give me my money back to start ? ? ?
and the 90 day warranty is from date of purchase NOT install like a lot of good parts places are doing . he also couldn't give me a answer on how the warranty was set up for a lot of guys to be screwed . cause who can build a vehicle by them self in there spare time from scratch and be done in 90 days ? and you have to have the parts to build around to make the vehicle complete the first time . seems real shady to me . yes they have offered a lot of after warranty help to a lot of people but if you do not stand up and fight for whats right lots of people will and have just tossed in the towel and lost a lot of hard earned money on a pad product and crap customer service .
so i hope this helps someone make a informed choice before thinking of purchasing a product and heck maybe i just got a bad unit who knows the truth i don't know ? ? ? CASE CLOSED
