I have a 1967 Toronado. When the RPMs drop, the turn signals flash slower. At a red light they stop flashing. I have replaced the flasher for the turn signals. Made no difference. I replaced the battery with a new one. Made no difference. Should I try replacing the voltage regulator next? How about the alternator? Thanks for your advise!

 

Is your idle very low? Put a voltmeter on the battery while idling and at 1500 rpm, see what the voltage is. Chances are its your VR

 

My advice is to sit down until the urge to replace another part passes. After all, there are only about another thousand or so parts on the car. If you replace them all, eventually you will find the problem. But this is a very expensive way to solve a problem.

A flasher is cheap. No harm done if replacing it doesn't solve the problem. But a new battery is not cheap. You replace it for, what, $120-$150 or so? If that doesn't solve the problem, you've just spent significant money, and you still have the problem. Did you have battery tested before you replaced it? The voltage regulator COULD be the problem, I suppose. So could the alternator. The idea here is to track down the source of the problem before replacing parts.

I have a '78 Toronado that behaved similarly. The turn-signal click rate would slow considerably when I was stopped at a light. The battery always seemed weak when trying to start the car. I have a voltage gauge installed, and it showed the voltage dropping below 12 when I was idling and never getting much above it when I was cruising down the highway. I suspected the alternator, which was only two years old but which was a low-cost, house-brand remanufactured unit. I had it tested, and, yes, it was not working right. I replaced it with a new (not remanufactured) Bosch unit I bought through Amazon (I have Prime, and the shipping was free), and the difference was like night and day. Bright headlights, constant click-rate on the turn signals, voltage reading in the 13.5 range. The problem was solved.

So, yes, your problem might be the alternator. But HAVE IT CHECKED before you buy a new one.

 

You might try an electronic flasher.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...asher&_sacat=0

You should be able to get one from any auto parts store as well as ebay. They work differently than the original and original replacements.

 

Test the charging system before you spend another dime. I bet you will find s dramatic difference between idle voltage, and voltage with engine rpm raised above idle.

Once you have that information, you will be in a better position to decide what to do next. There is a solid state replacement regulator available, I don’t know the part number but it has been discussed here before. You could also easily swap to a newer SI series alternator with the internal regulator. I bet it would be cheaper doing that as opposed to replacing both the alternator and regulator. It’s a simple bolt on, but does require some simple wiring changes.

 

I did this conversion years ago, I like it a lot.
IF you are going to do this, this wiring harness conversion kit makes it as easy, very very easy.

A side note, any alternator needs a GOOD ground, but that is especially true for internal regulator alternators. I just had a headache over my sons car loosing the alternator ground and the "GEN" light came on. Took some trial and error but finally got the needed advice that the alternator needs a good ground. Fixed that and that fixed all the problems of the "GEN" light.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/63-72-GM-CA...sAAOSwuxFY3phL

 

Thank you for all the replies. Voltage regulator tested defective at Auto Zone. Replaced voltage regulator. Turn signals are better while driving, but still very slow when I stop for a red light, Any new thoughts are appreciated. Thanks, Tom

 

Standard turn signal flashers will flash slower with lower voltage. Typically the voltage droops some at idle due to lower RPM than while driving (600-700 RPM at idle) so what you are experiencing is fairly normal. On my car with a mechanical voltage regulator the flashers slow down a bit and the headlights dim slightly at idle speeds.

 

Did you take the voltage measurements?