4-cylinder Ranger timing belt tensioner spring replacement

might post the year and the engine.

There is a proper tool for this job. I did a 83 Ranger with a 2.3 four banger once a long time back. I thought I might have left the bottom adjustment screw out of the tensioner and let the spring take up most of it's tension, so it would slip behind the pin easier. Then I used a version of the below tool to rotate the tensioner into position to reinsert the bolt on the slotted part of the tensioner. Force it farther back and tighter the adjustment bolt to hold it and then install the belt. The cost was a little too high for my budget at the time but having looked at how the tool worked. I made my own version of it and it worked fine. Of course I forgot what I did to make it. The tool you are looking for if it's a 2.3 liter is "T74P-6254-A" Timing Belt Tensioner Wrench. Your looking at around $100.00 to buy one. If you have a autozone around you may be able to see if they rent such a tool, as they rent alot of different specialty tools. A Haynes repair manual will explain it in good enough detail for us do it yourselfers.

Here's a web page of what tool looks like in usage.