Hello Vinny & I missed you in Church today!. Yes an overextended rod would activate em at the slightest touch and not let them release totally & you're right some of the symptoms suggest something more (serious) going on but descrips/symptoms can be confusing & I figured an easy check (p rod clearance) would b a good start b 4 swapping any parts esp as it would need to come apart either way. I'm interested in the outcome too. The jump in RPM suggests a vac leak & there's no extra load on the eng as when the check valve opens & lets a certain amt of vac pull on it (depending on how much pedal input) the vac is doing the work on a closed system same as the vac adv canister as opposed to like an alt taking power directly from the eng