Engine problems! PLEASE help!

[NoHachi]

That would explain the sooty sparkplug Jezza, but not the pinging noise. It offcourse allways a good idea to change the sparkplug first.

I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of a faulty injector. You sometimes see a eratic spray pattern from those, leading to fluctuating air/fuel ratio's..both rich and lean. Other problems could be the timing (are all the SP-leads connected correctly?), and possibly even the intake manifold itself.

PS: Dreja: propellor shaft doesn't really have anything to produce a whine. Whining is usually either a gearing problem or a bearing problem. I suspect that most of the problems are related to the nose bearing of the pinion..don't trust don't crush collars one bit...working on finding out these things soon.