Narrative:

On taxi out; we received an avionics caution on the cwp with a mfd-1 hot configuration on the electronic display (ed). We immediately ran the checklist and it clearly said 'maintenance action is required prior to next flight'. We returned to the gate and maintenance met us. Maintenance control had us power down the aircraft; then power it back up; twice. It did not clear the problem. When maintenance pulled the mfd-1 out from the firewall; the two cooling hoses from the fan to the mfd were not attached. The way there were placed inside the firewall; it looks like they were not even attached in the first place; plus the fact that two were not attached properly is very susceptive of an improper maintenance procedure that took place.there are a few things I would like to point out. First; look at the maintenance history of the aircraft. A few of the dhc-8-400's have had issues with their mfds and pfds. With that; there have been mfds and pfds 'robbed' from one aircraft to another. In this Q400 aircraft it had its functioning mfd-1 'robbed' (that was the way it was denoted in the maintenance logbook) to go to another aircraft. The mfd would not have needed to be 'robbed' if there was a part in stock.secondly; aren't maintenance cards suppose to be used or some sort of checklist or manual when a maintenance procedure is done to prevent things from being forgotten; such as attaching the cooling hoses to the mfds? Was the mechanic rushed in his job that he might have forgotten this? Were the cards not up to date? What was his training in this procedure? Thirdly; when looking at the QRH; it says maintenance action is required prior to next flight for the corrective action; maintenance controls loves to try to reset the problem by powering down the aircraft and powering it back up; often numerous times. Yes I understand that this can be accomplished; however; is that really a maintenance action or an operational fix? I think the QRH needs to be looked at to differentiate between just going 'ctrl+altitude+del' by the crew or having a mechanic take a look at it.fourth; sometimes a gate return is necessary as the gate area; at times; is the safest area to shut down the aircraft. However; disciplinary has been taken against crews who have done gate returns instead of sitting out in the middle of an airport; in a powerless aircraft; trying to fix the aircraft with shutting everything down and powering it back up; often numerous times as per maintenance control. Between runways on a hot summer day with a full load of passengers is not the place to go powerless. What happens if an evacuation is needed? In the middle of an airport you could be exposing the evacuation to jet blast; other aircraft; and extreme conditions rather than in the smaller gate area. What happens if you can't power the aircraft back up in the middle of the airport? Bottom line is I think we need to have procedures in place that outline when you can do a ctrl+altitude+del and the area you can do it in.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Captain of a DHC-8-400; raised numerous questions and issues about maintenance practices; after returning to the gate for an avionics caution on the CWP with a MFD-1 HOT configuration on the electronic display (ED). Maintenance Control had the flight crew power down and power up the aircraft twice; no help. Two cooling hoses from the fan to the MFD were found not attached.

Narrative: On taxi out; we received an avionics caution on the CWP with a MFD-1 hot configuration on the Electronic Display (ED). We immediately ran the checklist and it clearly said 'Maintenance Action is Required Prior to next flight'. We returned to the gate and Maintenance met us. Maintenance Control had us power down the aircraft; then power it back up; twice. It did not clear the problem. When Maintenance pulled the MFD-1 out from the firewall; the two cooling hoses from the fan to the MFD were NOT attached. The way there were placed inside the firewall; it looks like they were not even attached in the first place; PLUS the fact that two were not attached properly is very susceptive of an improper maintenance procedure that took place.There are a few things I would like to point out. First; look at the Maintenance history of the aircraft. A few of the DHC-8-400's have had issues with their MFDs and PFDs. With that; there have been MFDs and PFDs 'robbed' from one aircraft to another. In this Q400 aircraft it had its functioning MFD-1 'robbed' (that was the way it was denoted in the Maintenance logbook) to go to another aircraft. The MFD would not have needed to be 'robbed' if there was a part in stock.Secondly; aren't maintenance cards suppose to be used or some sort of checklist or manual when a maintenance procedure is done to prevent things from being forgotten; such as attaching the cooling hoses to the MFDs? Was the Mechanic rushed in his job that he might have forgotten this? Were the cards not up to date? What was his training in this procedure? Thirdly; when looking at the QRH; it says Maintenance action is required prior to next flight for the corrective action; Maintenance Controls LOVES to try to reset the problem by powering down the aircraft and powering it back up; often numerous times. Yes I understand that this can be accomplished; however; is that really a maintenance action or an operational fix? I think the QRH needs to be looked at to differentiate between just going 'CTRL+ALT+DEL' by the crew or having a Mechanic take a look at it.Fourth; sometimes a gate return is necessary as the gate area; at times; is the safest area to shut down the aircraft. However; disciplinary has been taken against crews who have done gate returns instead of sitting out in the middle of an airport; in a powerless aircraft; trying to fix the aircraft with shutting everything down and powering it back up; often numerous times as per Maintenance Control. Between runways on a hot summer day with a full load of passengers is not the place to go powerless. What happens if an evacuation is needed? In the middle of an airport you could be exposing the evacuation to jet blast; other aircraft; and extreme conditions rather than in the smaller gate area. What happens if you can't power the aircraft back up in the middle of the airport? Bottom line is I think we need to have procedures in place that outline when you can do a CTRL+ALT+DEL and the area you can do it in.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.