hello yeep community...Asking for your experienced wisdom and honesty.
Jeep Cherokee Country 1996 4.0.
So i went and bypassed the heater core about 1 month ago to fix coolant leaking inside cabin issue, and general overheating hell...
Note*the leaking had been occurring for around 6 months, I stopped using the ac/fan and that saved me some antifreeze.
I saw the pricetag on a heater core replacement and said NO because she's a 96, 240k miles and its been a tough labor market....
For now, the poor mans fix meant bypassing the heater core and solving that problem.
All was well and I thought GREAT, no more issues! lol
I'm in Colorado, it's 17 degrees this week , 8 inches of snow......and we're out here with NO heater but layered up!
First few trips all seemed normal as I kept my eye on coolant levels (holding steady)....
however, for the last few days the temp is running above normal and abnormally active while moving....

It goes like this: i'll be driving and she'll be in normal range (right under 210) , but then will then slowly climb...it's approached red a couple of times on highway (around 230) but then recede...and drop...
I'll say that during the course of a 35-49 minute drive she'll touch 210, 220, back to 210 and overall not consistent how she used to be when there weren't any problems (sounds like we're in a relationship ajaja)
There's also been shorter drives where the reading is normal and no fluctuation.

What did i **** up when I bypassed the heater core!????
Why is she running hotter now, and is it a thermostat problem tthat i should look into (maybe the thermostat's the problem and that's why the reading's all over the place)???
I've spent too much on her and this may be the last straw since I can't afford any major repairs right now
(the natural suggestion being: just fix the heater core, but cant afford that Nor do I have the mechanical hands to do that myself (i've seen tutorials...dam!)
Thankssss