...seems to me if the oil level is checked and the oil pressure is good, the oil temp is gonna be fine...
what other cars that have an oil temp guage?...
...
i guess if the oil got really low the temp might go up some.

Flaps;

I recall reading that the engine temperatures reached in the B18s under some operating conditions (I guess continuous high load), was close to the maximum operating temperature range for the engine oils of the day, so that's why they installed the cooler (which also HEATS the oil immediately after start-up, and allows the engine to reach thermal equilibrium earlier - better for wear and a long engine life...hello Irv!). I guess they installed the oil temp gauge to keep track of everything...and along with the coolant temperature gauge in one package, this made for a unique, vertical styling statement in the stylish instrument cluster of the earlier models...maybe it was kept out of tradition on the later dashboards...

Years ago, when engineers and designers were in charge, they believed in more information and good design...now, with lawyers driving everything in car design, they just have 14 airbags, disclaimers on the GPS screen, a crash data recorder (which will incriminate its own ownwer!) and a "Check Engine" lite...hmmmmm.....

Cheers

My 780 had one and the gauge was right below the water temp gauge. Fun to see them both work. More gauges, not fewer.

Klaus
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98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 88 245(165K mi)

Lets you know when the engine is truly warmed up.

Coolant warms before oil, so if you wait until the coolant temp is up before running your car hard, you're stepping on it too soon. Watching for the oil temp to come up let's you know when it's safe to really romp on the motor.

Also good to have when running hard at the track - lets you know when you're approaching unsafe conditions.
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Speed Racer, '83 240 R, '93 940 OL1 (East Hartford, CT)

I think perhaps that was a little me-too-ism on Volvo's part (all the other sports cars have them!).

To the best of my knowledge the cooling of the oil flow is just as important to the bearings as the lubricating qualities of the oil itself. A highly stressed engine will put a lot more heat into the oil. But a Volvo engne, especially stock, is a pretty understressed engine. And especially now with decades of use on the motors, they are nice and loose and probably don't heat the oil up that much.

The VR6 in my 95 VW has an oil temp readout on the trip comp. You can definately see it change. I think the VR6 is a fairly highly stressed engine - it has a separate electircal coolant pump to help keep coolant flowing in the head and a water/oil oil heat swapper (heats the oil on warmup, cools the oil in hard running). I can see a difference in how high the oil temp goes depending on how hard the engine is being used (like on an extended 85 mph highway trip), or if the oil is a little low, or even if the oil needs to be changed.
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I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.

It's a racing/rallying thing. If you run the engine at high revs and full throttle for extended periods, the oil will get plenty hot. Most 1800S models came with an oil cooler right from the factory. I guess the idea was that you could run the thing on Route 66 at 100 MPH indefinitely, or something.

Sustained 3500-4000 rpm use barely gets the gauge off the peg, of course.