B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Returned To Gate; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
During pushback starting engines the number 2 engine began dumping a large amount of fuel upon initial start selection prior to fuel lever being selected to idle; according to the push crew.  I asked the push crew a 2nd time if we were still dumping fuel which the crew indicated that we were so I asked the First Officer (FO) to stop the start of the number 2 engine.  A wide path of fuel was then noted on the ramp on the right side of the aircraft.  Ramp control was advised of a possible fuel spill and then we notified operations of the situation and advised we needed to return to the gate to have the engine checked out by maintenance and Maintenance Control was notified.Maintenance Control advised the flight crew via cell phone that an engine run would be required to clear the problem and verified that we were willing to comply.  After review with Maintenance Control and the [Operations Manual] of the requirements and ACARS printout we successfully completed the engine run.  The logbook was signed off by local technicians after which the flight continued without further issue.
A B737 Captain is informed by the ground crew during engine start that the right engine is leaking significant amounts of fuel. This occurred prior to the fuel lever being selected to idle. The start is terminated and the aircraft returned to the gate for maintenance.