Turn signal issues

So I've had a few days to observe this phenomenon and I've come to realize that my turn signals speed up, like when there's a bulb out, when I step on the brake.
I don't know if the signals are actually blinking faster or not or if the rear ones shut off when I step on the brake or the fronts or what.
I've recently (a couple months ago) replaced the blinker relay because it was sticking on and I had to manually make the indicators work by manipulating the stem. Talk about annoying...
Anyone ever hear of this happening?

It's been a built in safety indicator for a long time. If you have a burnt out bulb, the blinker will be really fast on that side indicating a faulty circuit. If you have a combination bulb for brake and turn signal, then the brake element might be the one going out. It pulls more power when the pedal is pushed and shorts around the turn signal wire.

Haven't heard of this specifically, but whenever an electrical fault is mentioned, I'd clean all grounds...

kjclow said:

It's been a built in safety indicator for a long time. If you have a burnt out bulb, the blinker will be really fast on that side indicating a faulty circuit. If you have a combination bulb for brake and turn signal, then the brake element might be the one going out. It pulls more power when the pedal is pushed and shorts around the turn signal wire.

Click to expand...

Cool. In the past I've only had people tell me a brake light is out. This is a newer switch than the original, so this must be built into the switch I replaced?

Mk4 don't have a combined bulb as far as I know. I would start by depressing the brake pedal with a 2x4 or something similar, activating turn signal, and stepping out to see if any bulbs are out of what's actually going on.

I did that; my turn signals just flash faster. THey're all working.

Check the light sockets and the contacts on the bulbs. Sometimes the socket contacts get pushed down or the contacts on the bulbs Wear down.

Any sign of water or corrosion on the bulb holder?
Any patches or modifications done to the harness?

So I assume this did not start right after you replaced the relay? If it did, I would see if you can find another one to try. If it started independently, I would guess it's just by chance. But you should still make sure you got the right part number.
You could try unplugging each of the rear light assemblies separately, and pushing brake and turning on turn signal to see if that changes anything. If the fault is in the light assembly, that should make the issue go away.
I agree with checking the related grounds, sorry, don't have my Bentley handy to tell you which ones, but I can check when I'm home.
EDIT: Actually, found this list. Assuming it's correct, check these grounds:

• 12. Engine compartment, left side, below battery tray (front turns)
• 50.In luggage compartment, left side, below C-pillar (rear turns, brake light)

No, This just started this week.

Thinking about what I posted there, unplugging the light assembly won't tell you anything, because that would remove a turn signal bulb, making the thing flash faster again. But certainly inspect them closely, and try unplugging individual brake light bulbs. Can also try just removing and reseating each brake and turn signal bulb on the car.

Or, you can just go buy new bulbs all around and see if that fixes your problem. Bulbs run around $2 a piece.

Recheck your rear bulbs. Remove, clean contacts and slightly bend socket contacts to provide a firmer connection.

Good luck, John

So, I think I have a partial solution. I took out the bulbs, none of them are bad, put them back in, wiggled a few wires, and everything works the way it's supposed to. For now, anyway.
What was happening was when I braked, the brake light would start fluttering like the turn signal, and the brake light on the opposite side would just turn off.
Weird.
Therapeutic disassembly/reassembly I suppose.

The left front turn signal/parking lamp on my wife's NB needs to be removed, the prongs inside the bulb socket tweaked, then reassembled. I do this every 6-8 months, when the signal speeds up and I find the bulb is just fine when I pull it apart. Annoying. I'm about to engineer some LEDs just to stop the annoyance.