My apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, but my search did not find any threads where this was actually answered...I'm helping a co-worker & her husband replace the clutch on their '97 Explorer. We're having a heck of a time removing the release bearing to replace it. There is what appears to be a Teflon O-ring (or similar material) involved, and I'm trying to be very carefull woth it since there was no replacement in the clutch kit. I was expecting a snap ring or something similar to retain the release bearing, but can't find any easily removed retainer. So, what is the procedure for removing the release bearing??Haynes book says turn bearing until the spring forces it off - seems that if that o-ring is whats retaining the bearing, doing this will deform the o-ring and the new bearing won't stay on (also, which way to turn?)...Also, we've run into another really annoying situation - all the chain parts stores show a six-crankshaft-bolt flywheel, but this vehicle requires an 8-bolt flywheel. Not counting the possibility of a prior engine/trans swap, was Ford know to sneak some later-model-year assemblies in a little early? The trans appears to be '98 (according to the shifter-removal) and I'm wondering if this is a later-year flywheel...Many thanks for any light you can shed on the release bearing issue!!![/align]

 

Bearing mystery solved! This may be old hat to many (sorry!), but I'll post it here to possibly save someone else some frustration (the Haynes manual was worse than useless on this)...

There is a split, spiralling steel retaining ring that holds the release bearing on it's support and prevents the spring from pushing it off. If you folded the retaining ring flat, it would look like a figure-8. You have to look very closely for the edge of the ring to get it started out- in fact, it may be better to run a pick around it and feel for it. If you push the bearing back toward the slave cylinder, you can easily fish the retainer out with the pick. The clutch kit appears to include this retaining ring.

I'd still like to know if anyone can shed some light on the 8-bolt flywheel issue - why the parts houses don't list that one. Thanks!