Just read online and the average thermostat for a Cherokee opens at 195 degrees. Maybe that's why it only stays at the first tick instead of going to 210.

Yeah 195* is what you want

ah ok

And not that you would...but just to keep Murphy out of the room and hands of our Jeeps... don't forget..... "laces out"...... oh sorry.. I mean jiggle valve (hole) to the top.... lol

195 is the stock thermostat, and a normally running 4.0 in good condition will sit about 210.

No, the thermostat does NOT determine the temperature of the engine. It's not like the T-stat in your house.

The T-stat rating determines when the t-stat will begin to open.

The normal running temperature is determined by a ton of other factors. In simple terms, it's the rate of heat production vs. the rate of heat loss, but each one has a lot of variables.

That's why it's a fool's errand to put in a lower temp t-stat to solve an overheating problem. That only works for short trips. Once the t-stat is wide open, it has no more control over engine temp. Other factors start to take over. If you finish your usual trip before the other factors take over, you will think that your lower temp t-stat solved your problem. It didn't. It just postponed it.

^^ great way to explain how this works to the masses... a lot don't understand that's how the system really works.

I would check your thermostat

I once put a parts store tstat in my Subaru. It was the right temperature rating 185, but constant overheating to 220 with it. Got a Subaru dealer part and found the parts store unit had half the diameter opening and just couldn't flow enough to allow real cooling. The OE part had it back to normal. So if you can't get flow the tstat rating means nothing. OTOH, if it is stuck way open and you get too much flow all the time the rating again means nothing in the other direction.

Excellent points, double. I guess that's one reason that Cruiser recommends the Mopar T-stat.

My coolant temp has always run cooler than what I see everyone else's run. I'm normally below the 210 mark, but not as far at that, not even close. And my oil psi is always looking just like yours. I run T5 and a larger filter now, but it was the same psi before I moved to the bigger filter.

I spent too much time trying to figure out why my temp gauge was incorrect after I replaced the temp sender (on the rear of the head). Turns out the gauge cluster needle can get out of whack and need to be physically adjusted or replaced. My guess is the same with other gauges.