I drove my car into work this morning (about 8 miles), which was the first morning that I actually needed heat, and my car never got to the point of blowing hot air out of the vents. The temperature was set to max setting, the A/C was turned off, and the setting was on defrost. I also noticed that the engine temperature was getting close to over heating when I sat still, but temperature went back down when I got going again.

The coolant level seems to be correct, because my coolant level light is not on, but I will visually check it before driving again. My first assumption was that the thermostat is was stuck open, but then the car would not be over-heating. The next might be that the water pump is bad, but it seems like I would be hearing noises coming from this area in engine or the engine would just stop, because it is driven by the timing belt.

Any suggestions that help me to resolve this quickly would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.