Hi all

Have managed to find many answers to various problems I have had over the years but have searched and searched this time and not found anything similar to my problems.

Over the past few weeks my Mk3 1.9 TDI Golf has started to go a bit crazy and has developed a few issues which I can’t work out how to fix so hoping for some clues if possible?

About 2 weeks ago I was driving home and indicating to turn left, but when I hit the brakes the indicator ‘clicking’ stopped, the light on the dash stopped flashing and was replaced by both indicator lights lighting up dimly. In addition to this the fog light indicator light also came on. As soon as I took my foot off the brake everything went back to normal.

After doing this it then didn’t do it again for a day or so. Since then it does it intermittently without any pattern to it. Last weekend I tried to have a look but could not re-create the issue to try and find the problem. During the week it has happened again at random times but in addition it seems that occasionally both indicators are lighting up while indicating left or right (while not braking) and if my foot catches the brake pedal when getting out of the car I get the ‘lights on’ beep and the fog light indicator illuminates.

Then on Monday I set off to work and quickly noticed that the speedo wasn’t working. I remember this happened once many years ago but after turning the engine off and restarting it was fine and has been since. However this time restarting the engine didn’t sort it. I carried on to work and after a while I noticed the needle on the speedo was moving up very very slowly. By the time I got to work the needle had reached 20mph which is where it stayed. On my journey home it moved up again very slowly and this has continued all week to the point where by Friday it had gone right round the clock and was stuck just below its normal starting position. All other dials and displays appear to be working fine.

Anyway I have spent my little spare time through the week looking for ideas online as to what to try and have tried looking at the car again today.

I read a lot about earthing issues which may or may not have something to do with one or both issues and so I have cleaned up the battery terminals and have also removed the battery plate and cleaned up the earth connections below this. I put it all back together and went to try the indicators and brakes combo to see if the problem had gone. It hadn’t but I noticed that the speedo needle is now sat at the 15mph mark. I don’t know if it has gone back round the way it should or if it has gone even further round the clock, all I know is it has moved since I took the battery off etc. I tried driving and the needle is not moving at all.

I then tried checking the back lights again to see if anything was obviously corroded or whatever. With the light bulbs exposed and the just the brake pedal depressed it was easier to see the effect on the other lights with a mixture of some being lit quite brightly and others with just a slight glow of the filament. Couldn’t see anything obvious wrong but while putting the nearside light fitting back in and at the point of giving up (it was getting dark) it suddenly changed and the brake light came on full and the other bulbs went out as they should. A bit of jiggling around and the other lights came back on. I found that if I apply pressure to the main connector at the bottom of the fitting it seems to work as it should. After a further hour I have not been able to work out why this is happening or if this is the cause of my problems and no matter what I do I can’t stop it.

So basically I would really appreciate any help or ideas at all for something to try for either problem. I would love to take it to a garage and let an expert have a look but I really can’t afford it at this time and as I am working two jobs to stay afloat, I really do depend on my car to get me to work so need to get it sorted if I can.

Sorry for going on and Thanks in advance