Turn signal

Tiny
STEVE WRAIGHT
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 43,000 MILES
The right turn signal is blinking twice as fast as normal.
Saturday, November 6th, 2010 AT 11:33 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,916 POSTS
Welcome to the forum, Steve Wraight. Check the bulbs. Old mechanical / thermal flashers don't pass enough current to activate when a bulb is burned out so it stops flashing. You have the newer, (very expensive) electronic flasher that speeds up when a bulb is burned out or there is a break in the wiring.

Caradiodoc
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Sunday, November 7th, 2010 AT 12:52 AM
Tiny
STEVE WRAIGHT
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thank you. You were right on. There are two bulbs for the front turn signals and the "white" appears to be burnt out. Can you explain to me how I can access this bulb?
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Sunday, November 7th, 2010 AT 1:01 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,916 POSTS
Happy to hear you found the problem but sorry to say, I would have to look at it figure out how to remove the bulb. If access to it is impossible from under the hood, look from underneath to see if the socket is plugged in to the housing. If it is, you'll see the wires coming out of the socket. Turn it a quarter turn counter clockwise, then pull it out.

From on top, look for a screwdriver fitting on the end of a long rod. Sometimes those are used when the actual screw head is down real far and hard to reach. The part you turn is up higher where you can see it. Those screws can be eight inches long.

On some cars you have to loosen the battery and slide it to the side. If you still can't figure it out, pop over to the dealer and ask one of the mechanics. They might not have time to show you but most of them will be more than happy to at least explain it to you. At the very nice Chrysler dealership I used to work for, the guys in the parts department would install it for you if you bought the bulb from them. That's assuming a lot of time-consuming disassembly wasn't required.

Caradiodoc
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Sunday, November 7th, 2010 AT 3:58 PM
Tiny
STEVE WRAIGHT
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thanks for the assistance. I'll take it from here.
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Sunday, November 7th, 2010 AT 7:22 PM
Tiny
WHITTNEYJ
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  • 3 POSTS
I also have the same problem, but I replaced all of the lights so I know they should work, my left turn signal light ticks at regular speed but at night the light doesn't come on, my right turn signal ticks at twice the speed but at night the light does come on. I'm confused. Could it be a fuse or a short in the wiring?
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Thursday, April 7th, 2011 AT 8:38 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,916 POSTS
You said "at night the light doesn't come on", "but at night the light does come on". Are you referring to the running lights or the signal lights?

The wiring circuits can be really messed up by the engineers but if yours has anything in common with the older common sense circuits, the bulbs will have a common ground wire for the turn signal filament and the running light filament, both in the same bulb. If there is a problem with the ground wire on the right side, the symptoms will change when you remove both of the LEFT front bulbs. If only the two right signals don't ever work, it's more likely the one wire that feeds both bulbs has a break in it. That break could even be inside the signal switch but since so much stuff has been complicated unnecessarily by the addition of unreliable computers, anything more than a broken wire should be handled by the dealer. You can even cause hundreds of dollars worth of repairs on Volkswagens by simply disconnecting the battery or running it dead. I know the salesman never told you that because you might not have bought the car had you known that. The turn signal switch is also now a computer module so you want to be sure it really is defective before you buy a new one.
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Thursday, April 7th, 2011 AT 9:37 PM
Tiny
WHITTNEYJ
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  • 3 POSTS
The left rear turn signal does not tick fast, but at night the running light doesn't work

the right rear turn signal ticks fast, but at night the running light does work.

I think it should be the other way around. I cant figure out what went wrong
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Thursday, April 7th, 2011 AT 10:26 PM

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