Just purchased a volvo 97 960, just under 100k miles. Tranny issues/pnp issues were known, but the price was right. Now I'm just trying to get her cleaned up as cheap as possible.

My up arrow on the dash is flashing, and the W S E lights flash back and forth. I am unable to select the W mode, not that I need it right now. It feels most of the time like it is in W mode, very slow acceleration etc. Every once in a while I will get in and the lights wont be flashing and I can drive in normal economy or sport mode. This may be tied with rain but I'm not sure. The tests I've been told to do to check the pnp is to turn off the car, turn the key to position two(one step before starting right?) and step on the brake and try to shift out of park. My car does. Am I stuck taking it to a shop to have the codes read? I ran it by autozone but I dont think their scanner reads much, as it only pulled one code on the car(cant remember it right now, tranny related but not the one listed in faqs about the pnp.

Also, I have a headlight out, is it ok to go to a generic parts store and get whatever bulb they carry, or does this need to be a volvobulb?