Easy 30 minute job........ NOT
 

I bought an aluminum water pump pulley for the 2004 4.4.
Just as your is, they are plastic. I felt 12 years of Texas heat,
I probably got my monies worth.

Got out my new Torx socket set to unload the tensioner.
Now I'm finding that it's very ratchety and not smooth.
It's also very stiff and I don't really want to take the belt off.
I'm thinking my tensioner is jacked up.
I can depress the belt and the tensioner swings.
Are these spring tensioners subject to sticking or failing?
Are they a good idea to replace over time?

You can press the belt, and tensioner swings? Are you sure you have the right size torx and spinning it in the correct direction?

It is supposed to be fairly tight. Mine sort of is. With a 16" ratchet, it isn't that hard though.

I might not be doing this right.
Do I use Torx to unload the Torx bolt on the pulley
Or the Torx on the tensioner?

Yeah make sure you have the right torx so you dont strip it. It does take a bit of force to get started, forgetting which direction it is, i used a 18" breaker bar to make it easier to hold when taking belt off and easier to put force on it.

Not sure if the N62 is different from the M62, but on mine it's a T-50 on the lower pulley wheel to release tension. Turn it right like you're tightening it and it should swing towards the harmonic balancer and release tension.

I have no issues using just a standard 3/8" ratchet. Mine isn't nearly as tight as some others I've worked on, it was pretty easy actually.

Torx to the hole by the pulley, not the pulley itself. It goes fairly easy with a big bar. It's supposed to be tight enough to hold spinning belts in tension.

Sorry for the off topic request, but do you happen to have a link for the pulley you bought?

It's made by URO. I generally don't buy any of their stuff.
The pulley is the exception. Very well made.
Available at the parts houses online.

Ditto on the aluminum pulleys. I just purchased a set of the waterpump and powersteering pump. I am one not to purchase a URO part but going from plastic to aluminum has to be the exception.

Agreed. The water pump and PS pulleys are the ONLY URO parts on my E53. And I had to run an emory cloth through the centers of both to get them to seat nicely.