Car heat

My guess on the first part would be the t stat my car just started doing this i can go start it and it will warm up but when i start going down the road the temp gauge drops fast then blows cold air and the second thing its doing is the heater fan sometimes wont blow at sometimes for a little ways and and sometimes works to shut it off and start it agin not sure what to do i know its a pretty cold ride any help would be great thanks

First thing is to make sure you have plenty of antifreeze and that it is good to the temps you are experiencing. No juice means no heat. Next, You may need to put a peice of cardboard in fromt of the radiator. If your coolent is not warming up, no heat. Lastly, Yes there is a chance your thermostat is bad but I doubt it. Take it out and toss it in a pan of hot water and see if it opens up.

the way it sounds to me you have a bad thermostat and heater fan or fan switch or all three,but.With out doing some testing its hard to tell for sure. make sure your coolant level is right.

I personally would NOT use the card board trick with todays cars, it will cause too much engine heat,which is NOT good on the aliminium heads, causing premature head gasket/intake gasket failures. JMHO

Where are you located?

with the t stat i was thinking that it could be but most times its stuck shut and not it just dont seem like its gettin as warm as it should and then dont stay warm so i was wondering can they get stuck open ill check the coolent level in a bit here how much you think a fan switch would run how hard would that be to put in

Sometimes the thermostat will not close completely. This could cause it to warm up, but cool off when driving. However, usually the engine is developing a lot more heat while driving so this may or may not be the problem. It may be worth checking the thermostat if it is not too hard to remove, or just replace it. The problem with the fan could be several things from intermittent connections in or near the fan, or the switch, or possibly even computer issues on later vehicles. If troubleshooting it yourself I would recommend getting a volt-ohm meter and tracing wires. I sympathize with you. Intermittent electrical problems affecting your heating system in the coldest time of the year is no fun.