OK.. newbie here. I have a 1990 caravan, 3.0L 329,000mi. while driving at night, both headlights went out, tried high-beams.. nothing. only way i have lights is holding high-beam lever in ON position. I have tried a new headlight switch. still nothing. bought a new "headlight relay"? (round canister w/3 prongs) still not working, however the relay seems to get excessively hot while headlight switch is pulled out. high-beam switch seems to be working since high-beams come on when held back. Any ideas greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

 

Welcome to the forum. The headlamps have no relay, that is a timer module for some interior lamps. The headlamp switch is fed power from a fuseable link and has an internal circuit breaker. I am amazed the connector for the switch wasn't all melted down. That is the usual cause. Power comes to the switch on a 12 gauge red wire, make sure you have that. If not, blown fuse link probably. Then it goes to the light green wire. There is also a light green with a black tracer which is the high beams. Jump the red to the light green and see if you have lights.