Does anyone out there know if a relay should be warm to the touch? I recently resolved a no-start problem with my '89 740 by replacing a fuel pump relay and a noise suppression relay. All is well, however through this experience I have found that different relays are either warm/hot, warm or cold to the touch.

My original power window relay (first metal relay on left) is pretty hot.
New fuel pump relay just warm.
New noise suppression relay on coolant bottle hotter than warm if that makes sense.
All fuses are cool to the touch.

Comentators on this board have said that 1) "A hot relay is a bad relay" and that 2) "Volvo relays typically run warm anyway".

What's normal?....and if it's contacts how do you clean them?

Warm, kinda hot....
It all depends on ventilation and how warm the ambient temp is.

It's nothing to worry about IF you have gone through the relays and resoldered (I add additional solder) to the relay points.
Some people drill holes in their relays to promote airflow. I did recently, but I haven't checked to see if it makes any difference.

The issue I can see between hot and warm is that it's a larger temp gap for the relay to cycle through, which means more volume change of the materials. The more volume change and more cycles, the faster your solder joints crack.

Good Luck,
Will
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1990 740 Turbo, on its way to stock specs, maybe beyond