86 Chevy Suburban Fan Clutch issues....

Ok I am at my wits end on this thing. The burb overheats and the fan does not kick in, sounds like a jet when it does so I know it isn't, and I just replaced the water pump and the fan clutch and it still doesn't kick on when it heats up past 200. Usually goes close to red but doesn't boil over. I have to be missing something. I am a novice mechanic, at best, but I want to fix this one myself.

Is there a reason the fan clutch would not engage when the engine heats up? Also, I am pretty new to the way it's supposed to look when I put on the fan clutch. What I saw was about 1/4 inch of the arm that I assume engages the clutch when it heats up. Should that be farther out? Did I miss something when I put on the waterpump? Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks!

Dave

Just guessing at something here...
If your radiator is blocked, then the air being pulled through the radiator might not actually heat up enough to kick in the fan clutch...

Thanks for the response. Fortunately I had a good nights sleep and went back over the basics. The first thing I did was went and bought another $5 thermostat and sure enough that was it. I had bought a bad one and didn't realize that it was the problem. Oh well, I have a new fan clutch on it now so we won't worry about replacing that one anytime soon.

Thanks for the help