Okay so i just bought a 2000 cavalier 5 speed for 1100 bucks. It's in mint condition, no rust, no dents or anything. The only thing i needed to do was replace the rear drivers side strut because it is clunking. Okay, fine that's not a problem. But yesterday it was raining out really hard and i went through a really big puddle pretty slow. After i got out of the puddle my exhaust was steaming and i could smell this horrid smell that reminded me of sulfur/rotten eggs. I thought maybe some water got into my exhaust somehow and its just heating up and mixing with exhaust fumes/carbon or whatever. I don't know. So the next day i started the car and noticed it was running pretty crappy, Idle was bouncing around 1000 rpm in neutral, my engine is shaking while idling, so i popped the hood and seen that the engine was indeed shaking back and forth more then usual. I also heard this ticking noise that never used to be there. So i listen around and find out that my coil pack is making the noise. Now where the one plug wire is pushed onto the pack. It is arcing electricity outside of the coil pack and wire, and jolting from the wire to the mounting hardware and just bouncing around all over. So i am assuming this is causing my car to run like crap. I was curious if you guys think it is the coil pack, or the wires? It is only happening on the 1 wire the others seem to be fine. I am first going to replace the plugs and wires because who knows how long ago someone before me did that. If that does not stop the issue then i will replace the coil packs too. It also starts kind of rough as well.

I also now have a Check Engine Light that comes on and off while driving. So i go grab the obd2 reader and hook it up, nothing happens. Hmm.. so i find out the 16 pin connector is wired in with the cig lighter. Well, my cig lighter doesn't work so that would explain it. Pop off the fuse panel and see that the fuse is blown. Grab another and put it in and POP! Blows that fuse as soon as it touches. So i assume there is a short somewhere. Just my @!#$ luck.

So do you guys think my problem is the coil packs? There is visible arcing outside of the case and wiring, and the wire does seem kind of loose compared to the other 3.
Sorry for the long post. Just want to get some other idea's before i go out and buy a bunch of crap.

Thanks alot, and appreciate all replies.
P.S. The engine is the 2.2l.