hi, i just bought a 1993 volvo 240 for$2200and so far i love it. has 107k miles on it and only some minor cosmetic damage that i'm more than happy to fix on my own, but i don't do engines or anything related to them. the only mechanical thing i know that isnt right about the car is that the temperature gauge will only work at pretty much random times. most of the time the meter sits at the bottom (cold), but will periodically jump up to the little dot in the middle (which i assume means 'normal') for a couple of minuites, before going back down. its not the biggest deal, but it being a new old car i'd like to have a working temp gauge for safety reasons. any suggestions would be appreciated becuase, like i said, i don't know much about the mechanical side of cars, just repairing dents and such is what i do.
-also, the car kind of hesitates when i step on the gas, i'm not sure if these two problems could be connected or not...

thanks

 

The Compensation board is bad.

Clean the throttle body and idle motor.

 

The connections on the back of the circuit board (instrument cluster) can be a bit wormy. Both my fuel and temp guages have demonstrated what you describe on occasion. A rap on the top of the dash usually makes 'em pop awake. Haven't seen it in a while. To remove the cluster, you simply pry out two little covers on either lower corner with a small screwdriver. (One says "Unleaded Fuel" and both have ***** through them (for setting clock and instrument lighting level).) One phillips behind each side. Cluster pulls out and the left most connect can be released to let you move it off the steering column and over to the right to get a look at the back. Just wiggle and press in all connections, check the screws for tightness (I'll be surprised if THEY are loose) and put it back together. The temp sender on the engine is another slight possibility. I think that there are two of them and you could wiggle the wires on each while someone watches the gauge for a response.

By the way guys, adding a volt meter is really easy at this point. If your junk yard is cheap like mine in Atlanta, you can get this little item off of a turbo model. The turbo guage could also be used as a vacuum guage (for fuel economy) but I haven't figured out where to connect it. There's a little hose to a black fitting that adapts a 1" hose to a 1/2" hose (I managed to break the little nipple off so I'm intimate with it now) and the turbo guage works well INSTEAD of that connection but won't work WITH it. Oh well, the volt meter is nice.