B747-400 CAPTAIN IS CONCERNED ABOUT MULTIPLE DEFERRED MAINT ITEMS; PARTICULARLY AN INOPERATIVE RADAR SYSTEM. ON THE ACFT ASSIGNED TO HIS PACIFIC CROSSING.

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THE ACFT HAD A LONG HISTORY OF NUMEROUS WRITE-UPS THAT WERE DEFERRED. ITEMS INCLUDED: R RADAR SYS INOP; NOSE GEAR PRESSURE SWITCH INOP; #3 ENG EEC CHANNEL 2 FAULT; HYD RES PRESSURE #3 FAULT; MAIN TANK #3 OVERRIDE PUMP INOP; R OUTFLOW VALVE -- 'INMT.' ON FPF DISPATCH WAS NOT NOTIFIED AND NOT AWARE OF WRITE-UPS BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT AFPAM GENERATED. ACFT WAS DISPATCHED INTO SEVERE TSTM AREA ON DEP RTE FROM ZZZ. DISPATCH DOES NOT HAVE ZZZ LCL WX RADAR SHOWING SEVERE WX ON RTE AND IS USING SATELLITE MAP WHICH IS POOR. WHEN QUESTIONED ABOUT ALTERNATE ROUTING TO AVOID TSTMS DISPATCH APPEARED TO BE WORK OVERLOADED AND AN ALTERNATE RTE WOULD BE TOO TIME CONSUMING TO GENERATE. AFTER MANY EXCUSES WHY MAINT WAS NOT PERFORMED EITHER AT ZZZ OR PREVIOUS STATIONS; WE ATTEMPTED TO HAVE ACFT REPAIRED. OUT STATION WAS ABLE TO LOCATE RADAR PART IN STOCK BUT WAS UNABLE TO EFFECT REPAIRS ON RAMP BECAUSE OF HVY RAIN CONDITIONS AND REQUIRED OVERNIGHT AT MAINT HANGAR. COMPANY'S FAILURE TO REPAIR ACFT IN A TIMELY MANNER FOR WHICH SOME OF THESE ITEMS WERE CARRIED OVER FOR 10 DAYS; PUT THE CAPT IN A CRITICAL SIT TO DEPART WITHOUT A BACKUP RADAR SYS INTO NUMEROUS TSTM CONDITIONS -- OR REJECT THE ACFT CANCELING THE FLT. DISPATCH NEEDS TO REVIEW ALL MAINT ITEM WRITE-UPS AND DEFERRED ITEMS ON ACFT RELEASE -- NOT JUST AFPAM ITEMS. DISPATCH NEEDS UPLINK OF ZZZ LIVE RADAR WHICH IS AVAILABLE TO CREWS IN ZZZZ OPS -- NOT JUST DEPENDING ON INACCURATE SATELLITE PICTURES. ACFT NEEDS TO BE REPAIRED IN A TIMELY MANNER; NOT ROUTED TO OVERSEAS ARPTS WITH UNCORRECTED AND DEFERRED DEFECTS. THE CAPT IS LIMITED FROM MAKING A SAFE AND TIMELY ASSESSMENT OF THE ACFT CONDITION IN THE SHORT TIME AVAILABLE PRIOR TO THE FLT WHEN THE ACFT IS BROUGHT IN WITH NUMEROUS THROUGH-FLT CHRONIC WRITE-UPS THAT ARE NOT REPAIRED. UNFORTUNATELY; THE FOREGOING EXPERIENCE IS BECOMING THE OP'S NORMAL ROUTINE. THE HIGHER STANDARD OF QUALITY THAT HAS BEEN EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST HAS DEGRADED TO A MARGINAL SAFETY LEVEL.