SMTP check returns (Service Check Timed Out)

Hi!
I am trying to monitor some Barracudas spam filter on the SMTP ports as well as other servers SMTPs.
I have been getting an error saying (Service Check Timed Out) , which I know it means Nagios gave up on checking the server after a specific time out.
I added a timeout of 220 and still it doesn’t change the status.
Yesterday it was working fine. How can I force Nagios to wait for the server to reply.
I tried doing a telnet on the SMTP port of the server and the server replied.
I don’t understand why Nagios is reporting it as a timeout.

Thanks much in advance,
Teo