1983 venture questions

[new rider]

I have purchased a 1983 venture from an acquaintance and need some assistance. when i bought it it started and ran. I was told that it needed some work to get it running better. so I took it to a recommended shop. after months of waiting, the mechanic told me that the left bank wasn't getting signal to the coil to fire. ( something about a coil near the camshaft) . I brought the bike home frustrated with the time frame, and now the bike won't run at all. I am not a great mechanic, but am capable if necessary. I would like to find a manual for the bike , and some ideas for what to do. none of the local bike shops want to work on it because of the age of the bike, so it looks like I have to do the job myself. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[MiCarl]

Source for online manuals

[Dano]

There is a great service manual available for download here in the first gen tech section, you're going to need the section about ohming out your pickup coils, then possibly checking your ignition module (TCI).

 

 

You may even have some members down in your area that could possibly lend you a hand with the diagnoses.

 

Welcome to the site, good luck finding the problem.

[bongobobny]

From what you are describing, the problem may very well be the conector found on the left side coming down the frame towards the rear of the engine that connects to the pickup coils. These connectors sometimes get corroded. As was suggested, you may also have a bad TCI unit, which is located underneith the coils under the battery. If your TCI is bad, only one from an 83 wil work as the ones for 84 - 89 are different, and the 89 up are single pickup coil. There is a lot of other things that could now be bad. The kickstand switch can be bad killing the ignition circuit. The way to check that is to short all 3 wires from the kickstand switch together and see if it fires. You can do that at the connector, disconect the conector and push some pins or whatever you can fit in each conection and tie them all together. Caution, make SURE you are in neutral, because now the bike will start in gear.

 

There are a lot of knowledgeable people on this site who will be glad to help you out!