Just replaced the rad, hoses and t-stat in my 2002 2.0L Escape. Everything seems fine, once it's up to temp the needle stays rock-steady in the middle of the gauge, but now I've got no heat through the vents.

Do these things have a heater valve in them, or does the heater core get 100% coolant flow at all times with a blend door providing the hot air regulation?

I measured the temp of the heater core hoses at the firewall with my IR gun and I was only seeing 80F on one and 70-something on the other. This was when the top rad hose was reading 170F.

 

Possible bad thermostat, even if new.
Clogged/crimped hose to the heater core.

 

Not the thermostat if the top hose is hot, sounds like a blockage or airlock in the heater circuit.

 

My thoughts exactly. Another possibility is a bad connection on the valve.

 

Just for the sake of closure, this turned out to be an air bubble in the system. I thought it had been fully burped, but it hadn't.

 

Glad it turned out to be a simple/cheap fix :-)