I have had a problem with my timing mark moving back and forth a bit under the timing light while the idle remains constant. I was reading up and it seams like two possible candidates is a stretched timing belt, or a worn distributor shaft.

I had the timing belt checked and it came back fine, would replacing the distributor shaft be a good thing to try? or is there some way to test it?

I have a doner distributor, that is not in great condition overall but the shaft itself is good. So if it would solve the problem, I would ultimatly like to swap the distributor shafts. If this is even possible.

Any ideas would be a great help!

 

Pull the distributor cap, put you finger on the rotor, and wiggle it to see if it has side-to-side play. This would indicate either a worn shaft, or a worn shaft bushing. This is a common problem on older British cars. I've seen the timing marks on my MG vary by 5 degrees. Of course that's with points, rather than an electronic system.

 

Thanks for the fast response. I wiggled the rotor, and it doesn't move side to side, but I can rotate it slightly clockwise a very tiny amount. My guess is this is normal.
My timing mark moves about 2degrees max, and it only seams to move up.

ie. it sits at 16 and quickly jumps to 17 or 18 and back.

The only other symptom I have is a rough idle, but the ECU has no codes, everything else seams fine.

 

You did make sure to short the Service Check Connector under the dash, right?

Shorting this connector, along with being able to retrieve codes at the same time, allows you to set the ignition timing.

 

Yeah, I shorted that connector and waited till the car was idling at 750rpm
Thanks though