Narrative:

The aircraft had two logbook writeups from prior days of wing/body overheat lights; but no events while the captain had been on the aircraft. Prior to pushback we ran the APU somewhat longer than normal because the gate services air wasn't very good and the OAT was over 100F. We started the number two engine normally; including 'isolate/ventilate.'immediately after starter cutout of the number one engine; the left wing/body overheat light illuminated. We ran the QRH procedures; and the light went out immediately upon shutting down the APU; which the QRH indicated means that there is a leak between the APU and the APU bleed valve. The QRH also indicated that we could configure the bleed air normally; and not use the APU; which we did.next; the captain called dispatch and talked with maintenance describing what happened. They advised us that no writeup was necessary and to fly to our destination (the last leg of the day for us and for the aircraft). The 'get the sick jet to a maintenance base' advice made sense and; by not using the APU; it made sense that we would not have any problems with the aircraft. But I wasn't entirely comfortable that we were being told to not write up a known discrepancy with the aircraft. The captain called back to dispatch and they confirmed that we did not need to write up anything. The flight to our destination was uneventful.a mechanic met us and indicated that if we had written up what had happened; some sort of maintenance action would have been required before the aircraft flew again (at least; as other than a ferry flight). Did we; in fact; get good direction from maintenance control and dispatch? Or did we fly an aircraft without a required writeup and corrective action? Hearing only one end of the conversation; I did not get the impression that dispatch knew they were telling us to do something wrong. At the same time; putting a writeup in the logbook at our destination to the effect of; 'before the last flight; this happened;' seems to be a red flag of; why didn't you write it up when it happened (e.g. Pre-takeoff)?at some point; I have to set aside my limited understanding of the intricacies of maintenance procedures; systems; and mels; and defer to what we were told twice from dispatch/maintenance control. To the extent that the warning light was out; the warning system tested well; and we were confident that we'd not aggravate the problem. I felt that the flight was safe; but I'm not clear that we were compliant with all directives.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-300 First Officer was concerned that a decision from Dispatch and Maintenance Control advising no necessity to write up an APU overheat anomaly prior to takeoff was inappropriate.

Narrative: The aircraft had two logbook writeups from prior days of Wing/Body Overheat lights; but no events while the Captain had been on the aircraft. Prior to pushback we ran the APU somewhat longer than normal because the Gate Services air wasn't very good and the OAT was over 100F. We started the number two engine normally; including 'isolate/ventilate.'Immediately after starter cutout of the number one engine; the left Wing/Body Overheat light illuminated. We ran the QRH procedures; and the light went out immediately upon shutting down the APU; which the QRH indicated means that there is a leak between the APU and the APU bleed valve. The QRH also indicated that we could configure the bleed air normally; and not use the APU; which we did.Next; the Captain called Dispatch and talked with Maintenance describing what happened. They advised us that no writeup was necessary and to fly to our destination (the last leg of the day for us and for the aircraft). The 'get the sick jet to a maintenance base' advice made sense and; by not using the APU; it made sense that we would not have any problems with the aircraft. But I wasn't entirely comfortable that we were being told to not write up a known discrepancy with the aircraft. The Captain called back to Dispatch and they confirmed that we did not need to write up anything. The flight to our destination was uneventful.A Mechanic met us and indicated that if we had written up what had happened; some sort of maintenance action would have been required before the aircraft flew again (at least; as other than a ferry flight). Did we; in fact; get good direction from Maintenance Control and Dispatch? Or did we fly an aircraft without a required writeup and corrective action? Hearing only one end of the conversation; I did not get the impression that Dispatch knew they were telling us to do something wrong. At the same time; putting a writeup in the logbook at our destination to the effect of; 'Before the last flight; this happened;' seems to be a red flag of; why didn't you write it up when it happened (e.g. pre-takeoff)?At some point; I have to set aside my limited understanding of the intricacies of maintenance procedures; systems; and MELs; and defer to what we were told twice from Dispatch/Maintenance Control. To the extent that the warning light was out; the warning system tested well; and we were confident that we'd not aggravate the problem. I felt that the flight was safe; but I'm not clear that we were compliant with all directives.

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.