I had a similar problem.  I fixed it by replacing the flasher relay.
Available from Bus depot for approximately $8.00.  Replacement was a two
minute job.  Beats heck out of flicking my emergency flashers every time
I wanted to signal.  The relay was the lower rightmost in the relay fuse
block (#21?).

TyG
'91 Syncro Westy
'90 Carat
'86 Syncro Westy
'03 MINI Cooper
No MB Sprinter ... yet

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Matthew
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 9:25 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Sticking Turn Signals?

86 syncro-
the turn signals are acting weird. They will stop working but the green
indicator light will barely stay lit.  When i turn on the emergency
flashers the problem goes away and the turn signals work great. Is this
a bad contact in the flasher relay thing or in the actual turn signal
lever?
thanks
matthew