Hello. Have a strange problem that is really stumping me, hoping someone can provide some insight. First, a quick history,

Last week, my battery took a crap. car wouldnt start unless I jumped it. The battery was really old, so I got a new one. Car ran good for 2 or 3 days, then needed a jump. Led me to believe the alternator was actually bad. The car would start and drive with a jump, but the lights were really dim, the car would stumble and stutter, and actually die if I used the turn signals or turned the fan on. It would also smell like gas, I think due to not enough juice from the alt to get a good spark/complete burn. After 2 days of limping to work and back, I discovered that my alt bushings were shot, and the alt was barely making contact with the belt, and barely spinning. So, I ordered some bushings from IPD. Unfortunatly, I had to keep driving the car to work while I waited on them, so a couple more days of no-headlight stuttering crappy running driving were neccesary. I figured I would need to clean/replace my plugs when I got the alt squared away, due to the incomplete burn issue fouling them out.

Fast foward a couple days. Got the bushings in, got new alt belts, cleaned plugs real good, re gapped them. Car has new cap/rotor/plug wires. But, still has a horrible stumble/misfire. While the car was running, I pulled off the plug wires one at a time, to see which one didnt make change the lumpy idle. First plug, car fell on its face. Second plug, the idle actually rose a little and smoothed out. Third plug, same thing, smoother idle. 4th plug, car fell on its face. I can feel a very slight shock when handling the middle two plugs, and see a very faint arc jumping from the boot the the plug. I even tried switching the middle 2 plug wires around, and the car actually runs better (but not good), with the firing order messed up!

So, it seems to me that the timing is somehow WAY off, or there is a big vaccum leak somewhere. What controls the timing on these cars? how would it get that far off? I will continue to hunt for a vaccuum leak, but thought I would ask for some other ideas.

Sorry for the long story, but thanks for reading!