B737 pilot crew reported a possible hung start and aborted start up.

Attributes
ACN	1691492
Time
Date	201910
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	IAH.Airport
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine Control
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 95 Flight Crew Total 6161 Flight Crew Type 507
Person 2
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 182 Flight Crew Total 4368 Flight Crew Type 368
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

Normal sequence up to push; cleared to start #2 engine. Turned packs off; momentarily went to flight start then moved switch to ground start; hacked clock. I am not sure when I added fuel as I usually do it at 25%N2 but today I cannot remember verifying that step but I know I did move the start lever to the idle detent; then saw egt increasing past normal indications; kept watching thinking there is no way it was going to go past red line. N2 was at 42%; never got any higher than that. Egt went through red line; and I should have cut it off but I was under the understanding it was supposed to cut off itself for a hot start. Looked up the reference for the auto cutoff last line reads 'current versions of eec software (7.B.Q and later) automatically turn off the ignition and shut off fuel to the engine for an impending hot start or stall.' not sure if this software was applicable to our jet today; and this certainly slowed my reaction time in getting the start lever to off. I was slow to cut off the start lever and did so once prompted by captain. Got to 841 degrees. Performed iai. Went to qrc then QRH. Back to gate and maintenance came out.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 pilot crew reported a possible hung start and aborted start up.

Narrative: Normal sequence up to push; cleared to start #2 engine. Turned packs off; momentarily went to FLT start then moved switch to GND start; hacked clock. I am not sure when I added fuel as I usually do it at 25%N2 but today I cannot remember verifying that step but I know I did move the start lever to the idle detent; then saw EGT increasing past normal indications; kept watching thinking there is no way it was going to go past red line. N2 was at 42%; never got any higher than that. EGT went through red line; and I should have cut it off but I was under the understanding it was supposed to cut off itself for a hot start. Looked up the reference for the auto cutoff last line reads 'Current versions of EEC software (7.B.Q and later) automatically turn off the ignition and shut off fuel to the engine for an impending hot start or stall.' Not sure if this software was applicable to our jet today; and this certainly slowed my reaction time in getting the start lever to off. I was slow to cut off the start lever and did so once prompted by Captain. Got to 841 degrees. Performed IAI. Went to QRC then QRH. Back to gate and Maintenance came out.

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.