Jeep Cherokee XJ diesel serpentine belt issues

[BillyMarson]

Hello chaps,

I was driving to work in my Cherokee t'other day, judder, temp gauge goes up, charging goes right down.
Pull it over, no belt.
Got my Brother in Law (he's a good egg) to tow it home, sourced a replacement belt, simple enough job, when I went to start it, it slipped straight off again (the other one disintegrated, rather than a simple slip, the parts I found looked pretty ancient).
Put it back on, it slipped off at, what I assume to be, the same point, which is the lower-right idler pulley.
Checked it out and it wobbles a bit, and it has a couple of small bite marks out of it, is it worth replacing this, and do you all think that this could solve the problem and get my Jeep running again?

Details:

2000 Jeep Cherokee XJ
2.5 Turbo Diesel
90k miles

Thanks in advance

[GreenV8S]

BillyMarson said:

Checked it out and it wobbles a bit,

That suggests a worn bearing - it shouldn't wobble at all. You need to replace it. That may be the only problem, but try to check the pulley alignment with a straight edge if you can. I've seen compound bottom pulleys delaminate and shift out of position but still look fine at first glance.