Concerning the arcing I was refering to the visible line on the colored portions of the insulator. If you run your finger nail along the coloured rings it will catch on these areas. Is this not a sign of arcing?

99 CSVT Green/Tan # 84 of 2760 Built on Wednesday, September 30, 1998 15.376 @ 92.00 MPH Stock 75,000Km 96 Contour GL 2.5L V6 ATX 170,000Km