On my new acquisition I have no heating. Coolant does get warm (needle just below center) and I can feel one hot hose on the heater valve. So I guess the valve opens. Should I feel vibrations on the auxiliary water pump? I have driven the car for a while, set the temperature to hot but could not feel the pump running.
I probably have to remove the pump to inspect the brushes anyway, so I wonder if it is worth buying a second hand one to replace the brushes on and then swap the pump. All the pictures I have seen of disassembled pumps showed a badly worn collector, and I guess that is due to the brushes having worn out to the spring. Hopefully a working used one looks much better and will run for a long time after replacing the brushes.
Cheers,
Harald