86 Chevy Suburban Fan Clutch issues....

[blackdog8025]

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

[kalafre]

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...

[blackdog8025]

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