So the other night I turned the heat on in my van and there was a rough smell coming out. I couldn't make out what it was, so I turned off the heat. Well the girlfriend got in and turned the heat back on, the smell remained and then down the road the headlights went off. They came back and turned back off. We decided to turn the heat off and it didn't happen again. Any ideas?

 

Could be any number of things. Smells coming out of the HVAC system could be from leaves, insects and rotten vegetation falling down into the cowl area. Could be a plugged drain keeping things wet in there so mold/mildew develops. Could be a critter got in the car and crawled up into the heater box to get warm and died. Might have chewed some wires on the way in or trying to get out. The headlight problem is probably not related but could be through the body computer or TIPM if your car has one.
There are de-odorizing kits you can buy from an auto parts store to help with the odor in the heater if it's a simple mildew problem. Probably won't help much if it's something bigger. Pouring a cup of bleach into the cowl could help a little. Do it when the car is good and warmed up. Let it sit quietly for a while afterwards.