Narrative:

Before push back from the gate; I noted that the flight director was not displaying in my electronic attitude indicator. I directed the first officer to contact maintenance but the check airman; who was doing a line check; advised that he had flown the aircraft recently and that it would display after a power transfer. Before the aircraft reached the end of the runway; the flight director command bars were still not displayed. After I tried to cycle the flight director between the digital flight guidance computers; I decided to return to the gate. The check airman suggested I shut off the left generator and turn the AC cross tie switch to open. After thirty seconds; the AC cross tie switch was put to the automatic position and the left generator was turned back on. The flight director bars on the captain's side were now in view and we decided to take off. Prior to takeoff; however; the check airman noted a high RAT temperature indication (it was indicating 68 degrees C). I decided to vacate the runway; in order to wait in case the temperature dropped. There was no abort involved; as the power was not applied for takeoff. The temperature dropped to about 48 degrees C and was not going down any further.I decided to return to the gate and have maintenance look at the problem. Maintenance duplicated the action with the APU generator running and it was also noted that the RAT probe current was showing current; not a normal indication when the aircraft is on the ground. An entry was made on the logbook for the discrepancy and was cleared by maintenance. After an hour and seven minutes delay; the flight proceeded without incident to the destination.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An MD80 Captain departed the gate with a known maintenance discrepancy at the suggestion of a Check Pilot giving a line check who assured him the problem would go away.

Narrative: Before push back from the gate; I noted that the flight director was not displaying in my electronic attitude indicator. I directed the First Officer to contact Maintenance but the Check Airman; who was doing a line check; advised that he had flown the aircraft recently and that it would display after a power transfer. Before the aircraft reached the end of the runway; the flight director command bars were still not displayed. After I tried to cycle the flight director between the digital flight guidance computers; I decided to return to the gate. The Check Airman suggested I shut off the left generator and turn the AC cross tie switch to open. After thirty seconds; the AC cross tie switch was put to the AUTO position and the left generator was turned back on. The flight director bars on the captain's side were now in view and we decided to take off. Prior to takeoff; however; the Check Airman noted a high RAT temperature indication (it was indicating 68 degrees C). I decided to vacate the runway; in order to wait in case the temperature dropped. There was no abort involved; as the power was not applied for takeoff. The temperature dropped to about 48 degrees C and was not going down any further.I decided to return to the gate and have Maintenance look at the problem. Maintenance duplicated the action with the APU generator running and it was also noted that the RAT probe current was showing current; not a normal indication when the aircraft is on the ground. An entry was made on the logbook for the discrepancy and was cleared by Maintenance. After an hour and seven minutes delay; the flight proceeded without incident to the destination.

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.