B737-700 captain reported the pushback driver alerted them to fuel streaming from the bottom of the ...

Narrative:

During pushback and early in the start of number one engine; the pushback driver reported a large amount of fuel streaming from the bottom of the engine. He sounded quite anxious. We aborted the start; ran the aborted start QRH checklist; then shutdown number two and were towed back to the gate. The pushback driver showed me the large fuel puddle where we had attempted to start number two. There was another significant fuel puddle under number one at our stopping point with fuel streaming out the bottom of the engine cowl. We called mx control and they asked if we were familiar with the five minute engine run to stop a cold day related fuel leak. We were in vague terms but this leak seemed excessive. After reading bulletin 15-29 we felt we had acted correctly.mx control had us call contract mx out. The engine failed the leak test with the engine running and statically after shutdown. After that; contract maintenance did two static maintenance diagnostic tests that cycled engine valves followed by two five minute engine runs. After multiple valve cyclings from this testing the fuel leak was confirmed to be within limits and we departed after the logbook was signed off and passengers reboarded.I'm not comfortable with pushback crews who aren't trained trying to explain if a fuel leak is within limits. My cutoff given the emphasis on doing business taking the conservative approach is if the tug driver's voice goes up a couple of octaves it's time to have maintenance check things out. In this case we all made the correct call.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-700 Captain reported the pushback driver alerted them to fuel streaming from the bottom of the engine. The flight departed after maintenance attention.

Narrative: During pushback and early in the start of number one engine; the Pushback Driver reported a large amount of fuel streaming from the bottom of the engine. He sounded quite anxious. We aborted the start; ran the Aborted Start QRH Checklist; then shutdown number two and were towed back to the gate. The Pushback Driver showed me the large fuel puddle where we had attempted to start number two. There was another significant fuel puddle under number one at our stopping point with fuel streaming out the bottom of the engine cowl. We called MX Control and they asked if we were familiar with the five minute engine run to stop a cold day related fuel leak. We were in vague terms but this leak seemed excessive. After reading Bulletin 15-29 we felt we had acted correctly.MX Control had us call Contract MX out. The engine failed the leak test with the engine running and statically after shutdown. After that; Contract Maintenance did two static maintenance diagnostic tests that cycled engine valves followed by two five minute engine runs. After multiple valve cyclings from this testing the fuel leak was confirmed to be within limits and we departed after the logbook was signed off and passengers reboarded.I'm not comfortable with Pushback Crews who aren't trained trying to explain if a fuel leak is within limits. My cutoff given the emphasis on doing business taking the conservative approach is if the Tug Driver's voice goes up a couple of octaves it's time to have Maintenance check things out. In this case we all made the correct call.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1303392
Time
Date	201510
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	CLT.Airport
State Reference	NC
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuel System
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 219 Flight Crew Type 13000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

B737-700 captain reported the pushback driver alerted them to fuel streaming from the bottom of the engine. The flight departed after maintenance attention.