If the engine is up to temp then there should be heat from the heater the thermostat has no direct involvement with the heater. Have you checked the coolent level.
i had this trouble other week for 3 mornings,engine was up temp for a good half hour before warm air started blowing through,recon it was ice in heater box cos since i topped up cooling system with antifreeze its not done it(touch wood)
the hoses seem to be getting warm yes. the only ones that dont seem warm is the thin 1 from the header to stat housing and the one from stat housing to water pump. dont know if this is normal, first disco i've had and only got it sat night.
you've got problems then as they should get warm first?? It sounds like you're not getting any water circulating?? take the bleed cap of the rad and have a look to see if the waters moving.
took the bungs out and filled up, warmed engine up and the header tank filled up and water was coming out of the cap. Took bungs out again, rad was still full, stat wasnt. Also the to pipes as mentioned before were still cool.
Coolant may have frozen in water pump housing while vehicle parked o'nite, water pump impellor vanes broken off when engine turned over to start, no pumpie coolant, no coolie engine, no ciculation for heater, just a thought, but you have said that you will replace said pump all will then be revealed. Good luck!!
well friends had a look and the headgasket that was supposed to have been fixed before i picked it up, don't look like it has been done. Since i put thermostat in you can see water escaping onto exhaust manifold/turbo, i presume this is due to increased pressure with stat in. Also the head bolts havent been touched.