My ford festiva has no heat.

I found this on Toyota Nation Forum: "Yes, it should take an engine 5 to 10 mins. to get to operating temperature, 190deg in your engines case.
If it takes longer then thermostat needs to be replaced, for sure.
The thermostat controls the minimum operating temperature of an engine.

So I would drain coolant, reuse if not too old, and change thermostat, make sure new thermostat has a "jiggle valve", and you install it with "jiggle valve" at the 12:00 position.
A "jiggle valve" is a hole in the t-stat plate that allows air to escape when refilling the cooling system, it has a metal pin in the hole that "jiggles" to prevent hole from being blocked by debris, which is why it is called a .............jiggle valve

Green coolant needs to be changed every 2 years.
Red coolant needs to be changed every 5 years.
Do not switch from Green to Red or Red to Green, stay with what you have, which should be Red/Pink.
The anti-freeze component in coolant never wears out, the anti-corrosion compounds do, which is why it is important to change coolant when specified.

Back flushing the heater core is always a good idea, the heater core has the smallest passages in the system, so any debris will find its way there and if large enough stay there, over time the core passes less hot coolant so max. temp inside car can go down.
Back flushing means you will reverse the flow in the core, and hopefully push any larger debris out the way it came in.
Regular flushing doesn't do this.

Google: back flushing heater core video

The make and model don't matter, method is the same on all vehicles, you can use air or, what I use, a garden hose, after first back flush I also fill core with a warm mixture of CLR and let it sit for 20 min. then back flush it a few more times.
I then fill it with coolant before reattaching the hoses."

I hope this helps you!

The first item to check is the engine temperature. To help cold engines warm up fast, the flow of coolant is restricted by way of the thermostat-a thermal valve that opens when it's hot and closes when it's cold. When the thermostat wears out, it remains stuck open or shut, which leads to either overheating or cool operation. A worn-out thermostat might be preventing the coolant from getting warm enough to heat the cabin. Replacing the thermostat can be a 20-minute job or a real hassle. Check your service manual to see how involved the replacement is.

If the thermostat is fine, the flow of coolant in the heater core may be restricted by built-up goop. Sediment and grime can accumulate between coolant changes and collect in the heater core. A flush can be done by disconnecting the heater hoses at the water pump (when the car is cold) and using compressed air to push the coolant and gunk backward, out the inlet hose. Be sure to capture all the old coolant and dispose of it properly. Follow that with a few rounds of filling the core with tap water and flushing it out in the same way, then refill the core with mixed coolant and reattach the hoses. None of these fixes is hard, but the heater-core flush is messy, so you might want to take your car to a shop for service.

disconnect the heat hoses going into fire wall , put hose into one with pressure and flush as it sounds like it could be bloked in the heater core,the other thing that could be the problem be the hot ,cold switch as it restricts the flow to makes the heater hoter or colder , it might need tlc or replacing as it is manaul not elec

Hello! The heater core is partially blocked...I would suggest flushing the cooling system with the temperature control on high...NOTE...The type of anti-freeze used in your vehicle is DexCool...If another type is used it may damage the cooling system...To flush...Drain radiator...Fill with plain water...Run engine until thermostat opens...Turn engine off...Let cool then drain...Do this at least three times or until water drains clear...Install new thermostat...Refill with 50/50 DexCool...Leave the radiator cap off as engine warms...Allow all air bubbles to escape...Then install cap...

The down side of DexCool is electrolysis...Electrical current flowing in the cooling system which can cause the anti-freeze to "clump" blocking its flow...Periodic flushing eliminates the problem...

Guru.........Saailer

I’m happy to help further over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/david_6df67de3b14de867

WATER PUMP FAILURE COULD BE CAUSED BY WRONG COOLANT USE DEX COOL ANTI FREEZE.REPLACE THERMOSTAT AND BOTH RADIATOR HOSES TOP HOSE AND BOTTOM HOSE.SOFT HOSES COLAPSE LIKE PUMP HOSE.IT WILL COLAPSE FROM PUMP VACUUM CLOSING OFF SOME COOLANT FLOW.MAKE THE HEATER CORE NOT STOPPED UP IF SO IT WILL RESTRICT WATER PUMP BYPASS CAUSE EARLY PUMP FAILURE.YOU NEED 50/50 COOLANT MIXTURE YOU HALF WATER AND HALF DEX COOL DONT USE GREEN ANTI FREEZE USE ORANGE DEX COOL.I HAVE 3.4L ENGINE AND 3.1L ENGINE BEEN USING DEX COOL ANTI FREEZE SINCE I HAD BOTH VECHICLES. HAD NO WATER PUMP PROBLEMS.

the problem maybe heater core stopped-up. need to see if coolant is flowing thru heater core.and check to see if heater hoses are getting hot near heater core . if take off heater hoses to core with water hose run water thru one side of the hoses to see if water flows thru the other hose.

the heater hose itself has prob colapsed on the inside replace it and see if that works!!!!

If the car is not providing heat and thermostat is good, then your problem is a faulty heater core. Sometimes when heat cores wear out, they sometimes give off an anti-freeze smell.
You can go to autozone.com and register for full free online repair manual with everything you could need for your car.

There are 3 possible cases: 1- The Flap Divert air direction valve for air flowing through the heater core is not doing its job. 2- The heater core gets clogged up. 3- The valve to control amount of hot coolant flow to heater core gets stuck. Let's check if the water can flow to the heater core first, by disconnect the output hose from heater core while running the engine with heater set up at maximum level to see if coolant flowing out. Catch this coolant with a container to refill it back. This way you can eliminate # 2 and # 3. Good luck.

Could be the water pump or the serpentine belt is slipping on the water pump pulley. Is the radiator coolant hot? If it is, the coolant is not circulating through the block and heater core. I am assuming you see and hear no leaks and you have installed the thermostat in the correct direction to match the coolant flow.You should be able to squeeze the radiator hose before the thermostat and feel it expand when you have the engine running. You might be able to splice a hose with a T connection and valve to see the flow. Otherwise you would have to take out the pump and check the impeller.