Normal. What a concept. I pulled out a 240 Volvo Owner's Manual (from 1983) and on page 6 it says "The gauge pointer should remain inside the black range during normal operation" followed by what you should do if it repeatedly moves into the red.



This overlay image helps to communicate needle position exactly.

Normal for my 89 sedan daily driver (all of the cars I drive have had the TempFaker removed if so equipped) is 9:00 after the warm-up cycle is done. When cold, like winter-cold, it is like 7:30 or below for a half mile or so of my trip downhill to town. During that first opening of the thermostat I catch the needle cresting 9:15 before settling back to 9:00 where it remains as long as the motor is running.

Normal for my 89 wagon -- dump runs and lumber fetcher -- is about 8:45. When I'm really cold in that car (wagons have more to heat) I dream about maybe changing the thermostat and flushing the heater core. But the seat heater works.

Our 79 244 runs about 8:40, but the heater is plenty warm. I can't even tell you which thermostat temps are in those three 240's I drive without some research into old repair history. I'd be concerned if the needle never made it past 8:30 maybe. Like is the tstat broken and wide open. Or the temp sender crusty with deposits? But after years of driving things that were not Volvo and having their heads off after overheating symptoms, I'm happy to have these Volvos that don't need head gaskets and the like, and have us running in the red and losing coolant on the Bay Bridge.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

In democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism it's your count that votes.