AN AIRLINE MECH INADVERTENTLY SWAPPED THE LOWER BEARING AND PACKING ADAPTER WHILE REASSEMBLING THE R MAIN STRUT OF A B727. THE ACFT THEN BECAME STRANDED THE FOLLOWING DAY DUE TO THE IMPROPER MAINT.

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I WAS ASSIGNED TO REPACK THE R MAIN STRUT ON A B727 FOR LEAKING. THE STRUT WAS PACKED AND SVCED WITH FLUID ONLY BY THE END OF MY SHIFT. THE FINAL FLUID TOP-OFF AND NITROGEN CHARGE WAS TURNED OVER TO DAY SHIFT. THE NEXT EVENING WHEN I RETURNED TO WORK; I CHKED SHIP NUMBER IN THE COMPUTER AND DISCOVERED THE ACFT WAS STRANDED IN XXX WITH A FLAT R MAIN STRUT. INVESTIGATING THE MAINT MANUAL I DISCOVERED I HAD REASSEMBLED THE STRUT INCORRECTLY. THE STRUT LOWER BEARING AND PACKING ADAPTER WERE SWAPPED THE NIGHT BEFORE. I CALLED OUR MAINT COORDINATOR AND A CONFERENCE CALL WAS SET UP BTWN THE COORDINATOR AND MYSELF SO THE PROB COULD BE CORRECTED. WHEN THE STRUT WAS DISASSEMBLED; ALL PARTS WERE LAID OUT IN ORDER OF REMOVAL ON A WORK TABLE. THE ILLUSTRATED PARTS CATALOG WHICH SHOWS A COMPLETE BREAKDOWN WAS USED AS A GUIDE FOR REASSEMBLY. THE STRUT LOWER BEARING AND PACKING ADAPTER LOOK SIMILAR IN THE PARTS CATALOG. IN RETROSPECT; HAD THE MAINT MANUAL; WHICH HAS A CLR FIGURE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED ASSEMBLIES; BEEN PROPERLY USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ILLUSTRATED PARTS CATALOG; THIS PROB WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE STRUT ASSEMBLY HAD BEEN TAKEN APART BY ANOTHER MECH BEFORE THE RPTR BEGAN REPACKING THE STRUT. THE RPTR HAD A GUT FEELING THAT SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT WHEN HE WAS ASSEMBLING THE STRUT; AND QUERIED THE OTHER MECH; BUT FAILED TO DISCOVER THE MISTAKE. THE RPTR STATES THAT THE STRUT LOWER BEARING AND THE PACKING ADAPTER ARE BOTH CYLINDRICAL AND SIMILAR IN APPEARANCE. THE PARTS MAY HAVE BEEN SWAPPED PRIOR TO HIS WORK ON THE SHIP; ALTHOUGH THIS DOES NOT RELIEVE HIM OF RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE HE STILL ALLOWED THE ERROR TO CONTINUE. IN ORDER TO PRECLUDE SIMILAR PROBS THE RPTR WILL USE THE MAINT MANUAL AS A SUPPLEMENTAL REF. THE ILLUSTRATED PARTS CATALOG IS ON MICROFICHE AND DOES NOT OFFER A CLR ENOUGH PICTURE. THE COMPANY IS ALSO IN THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING MAINT PROCS TO CD ROM WHICH WILL GIVE A MUCH CLRER PICTURE.