Caps charge fast, thats true...
Damaged caps 'leak' voltage and don't charge (I don't think 'charge' is the right term, but it's close enough) as much. If the damage is really bad, they won't charge at all. Voltage leaks on a system such as this are bad, since I suspect the Caps are part of the timing circuit, if they start to come out of spec then the timing circuit won't function correctly, and that will cause the system to not send a 'fire' signal.
I suspect that the transistors a few people replaced are PNP Power Transistors, which are designed for use in Amplifiers and Switching Circuits. Seeing that, since I plan on replacing the caps in mine I may as well nail those Transistors too.