I'd say they're not doing their job then. They should look nasty like the ones in the link I gave you to Rain's site.
What you describe sounds like the ones I found in the 15-90. That one, the motor smelled "wrong" and it ran too slowly. I decided to check the grease wicks to see if the motor was being greased enough, and found fluffy white wicks, with a crusted over "lid" at the top of the grease tube.
I greased under, to lube the motor immediately, then a little around the wicks, and stuffed the top full after reassembly. Took a few minutes, but the motor sped right up and I think it runs as fast and as strong as the 15-91 now and that nasty smell is gone.