Narrative:

On climbout in the night; we received an engine overheat left annunciation on the upper EICAS with the associated checklist. This warning was a previous write up and the system had been placarded as inoperative for both the fire warning and the overheat warning loop 2 on the left engine. We leveled off at FL260 to take care of the checklist. We followed the checklist up to shutting down the engine. Both the captain and I stopped at that point to analyze the situation. We both recognized that it was the placarded system; and decided to call maintenance control at that time. Upon referral with the individual at maintenance control; confirming that it was only loop 2 that was giving us the warning; seeing no other supporting indications of a fire or overheat on the left engine; and the fact that the warning and subsequent checklist went out and away during the conversation with maintenance control; the decision was made that it was a false indication from the placarded inoperative system and we decided to continue the flight. We continued to monitor the engine indications all night and saw no abnormal indications. Upon referring to the MEL; one can see that there is no guidance about what should be done to the system; either by maintenance; dispatch; or the crew as part of the placarding process. There is no discussion anywhere about possible additional warnings from the supposedly placarded inop warning system or what to do in case there are more warnings.provide better guidance in the MEL about what steps are taken when placarding the system; or alerting the crew that there may be nuisance warnings associated with the placarded system. No guidance in MEL about recurring enunciation issues on a supposedly placarded system.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B777 First Officer reported receiving a ENG OVERHEAT L EICAS during climb; but it had previously been deferred inoperative. The MEL did not address possible additional warnings with placarded INOP warnings.

Narrative: On climbout in the night; we received an ENG OVERHEAT L annunciation on the Upper EICAS with the associated checklist. This warning was a previous write up and the system had been placarded as INOPERATIVE for both the Fire Warning and the Overheat Warning Loop 2 on the left engine. We leveled off at FL260 to take care of the checklist. We followed the checklist up to shutting down the engine. Both the captain and I stopped at that point to analyze the situation. We both recognized that it was the placarded system; and decided to call Maintenance Control at that time. Upon referral with the individual at Maintenance Control; confirming that it was only Loop 2 that was giving us the warning; seeing no other supporting indications of a Fire or Overheat on the left engine; and the fact that the warning and subsequent checklist went out and away during the conversation with Maintenance Control; the decision was made that it was a false indication from the Placarded Inoperative system and we decided to continue the flight. We continued to monitor the engine indications all night and saw no abnormal indications. Upon referring to the MEL; one can see that there is no guidance about what should be done to the system; either by Maintenance; Dispatch; or the Crew as part of the placarding process. There is no discussion anywhere about possible additional warnings from the supposedly placarded Inop warning system or what to do in case there are more warnings.Provide better guidance in the MEL about what steps are taken when placarding the system; or alerting the crew that there may be nuisance Warnings associated with the placarded system. No guidance in MEL about recurring enunciation issues on a supposedly placarded system.

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.