ok im removing the water pump and theirs a bolt behind the tensioner....do i need to remove the tensioner to get5 the water pump off or what...thought id ask before i ended up taking things off that i shouldnt

 

I want to say yes.
I know you have to on both 4.0l. It isn't terribly hard to do. Taking your fan off will be fun also. Find a friend who has an 1-1/4 wrench. i think thats the size.

 

how exactly does the tensioner come off.....it kinda looks like its one piece with the idler and a/c compressor

 

what year and engine would help us

 

its a 99 and a 3.0

 

I'm having the same issue. there is one bolt i could maybe get with a small wrench...which would be the worst wrenching ever...but the other one is behind the tension pully arm and it looks like i have to remove the whole thing just to get ONE bolt...the last one that is haha. here is a pic i found and i can get more tomorrow with my phone (attached). I have a 2002 ranger with a 3.0 and thats exactly what this one is. I took two long bolts out of the pully arms base but i'm afraid to mess with it too much because i don't want the spring to pop out. any ideas/pictures would be VERY helpful!

 

It's the center bolt. I used 3/8 drive short socket and got it off