I just had the thermostat and thermostat housing replaced by the mechanic, its around 23*F so I let the car warm up about 5 minutes. After driving about 15 minutes the car leveled out at about 170*F. Im new to cars and wondering if this is just a symmptom of cold weather or a issue caused by the mechanic. Any tips or help is appreciated.
Attached is a pic of the temp gauge.



Thanks, RL
2001 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 Blk

 

Don't trust the factory cluster. Mine reads 210 on the obd port but the gauge is pointing at the tick just before the 210 spot.

It could be an air bubble around the sensor or the plug to the sensor is loose too.

 

1) what temperatures were you seeing on the gauge before you had it worked on?

2) what temperature thermostat did the "mechanic" put in there?

 

1. It usually was around 210 however i hadnt done much cold weather driving

2. not sure

 

The "not much cold weather driving", at least the "cold"weather you're talking about shouldn't make a difference.
I wonder if the guy put a 180 degree thermostat in there rather than the 195 that should be in there.

 

I will try to find out thanks for the help

 

Just called and they put in a 180 they tried to say that 210 was too hot and car should run at the tmeps it is, but i eventually gort them to agree to put a 195 in there, is that the right decision?

 

Yeah you want a 195 in there it's normal for it to be around 210. Mine normally is right under 210

 

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you want a 195; that's what it was built with
A 180 will give you more condensation in the oil(= sludge), worse heat/defrost in the winter, and slightly worse fuel economy cuz the computer will have it running slightly richer
It won't run any cooler in the summer. The "thermostat" isn't like the thermostat in your house that you set to 70 and that's what you get, it should be called " the thing that lets coolant go to the radiator above the specified temperature" . Even with the thermostat open, or missing, if the cooling system has problems it's still going to overheat.
After they put in the correct thermostat find a new person to work on it, or better yet work on it yourself
End of rant 😀

 

Thanks for the help, not gonna go back to that mechanic, I might try doing the next project myself