Shorted headlights

[Phil Strong]

Driving home late a few night ago the headlights on my 1989 80Q (147k)
went off while I was accelerating up a hill. Applied the brakes and the
headlights came back on.  Thought I was in the clear, accelerted again
and the headlights went out again.  Pulled over to the side of the road
(this time the lights didn't come on when the brakes were applied).
When I closed the door when I was going to check the fuses the lights
came back on again.  After closing the door again the lights went out.
Since then the lights haven't worked.  Neither hi's or lo's work.
Hazards, brakes, interior lights all work like normal.  It's just the
headlights.  Checked the fuses, which are fine.  Unfortunately the fog
lights that the previous owner installed don't work anymore because one
of the wires melted in half!  It was an interesting 30 mile drive
tailgating behind a Jeep Cherokee getting home to say the least....

Earlier in the evening I noticed that not long after the passenger
turned on the heated seats, there was a cyclic clicking coming from in
front of the steering colum under the hood.  Kind of like the sound
clicking lifters make but it wasn't coming from the engine area and the
sound was much louder.  Now that I think about it, I've heard that same
clicking sound coming from the same area when the passenger heated seats
are on.  If you're standing in front of the car looking under the hood,
isn't the ground for the headlights located in front of the drivers
seat?  Is this also the location of the heated seat grounding wire?
What my friends and I have guessed thus far of what it could have been
is that either the ground wire for the headlights is loose or the wire
got shorted.  Does the problem sound like it is this simple or is it
possible that it could be much worse?  What do you peoples think?  Any
BTDT?  And what should I do to remedy the problem?  There are no
competant Audi mechanics around where I live.  Or is the electrical
wiring on an 80Q something that any competant mechanic can fix?  Any
advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance for any.

Phil