I was looking into the map lights in my car, and wanted to check the voltage across the LED that’s used in the map lights. As I was trying to get my multimeter leads on the ground and live wire I accidentally moved and the light suddenly turned off. It was very tight so I’m not exactly sure what happened but I have a feeling I created a short circuit. The light will turn on but I have to press the button multiple times before it turns on. Additionally it seems hotter than the other map light LED. Only one was affected even though they share a wire that I’m assuming is the wire for the “door” setting. Any ideas what could’ve happened? Also is this potentially dangerous/can it cause a fire?

 

Welcome to AAC!

Since you think something is getting hotter than it should, you should have it checked by a repair shop that specializes in your model vehicle.

 

If life was simple, an LED circuit could be an LED, a resistor or other current limiting device, a supply and a switch.
But vehicle electrics are not that simple and may involve things like dimming circuits and might possibly go back as far as the engine management unit.
If the lights dim, then there could be some sort of PWM involved.
If the LED is getting very hot, then it's going to fail.
There is the obvious fire risk and the damage could go further back in the system.
You say there is another lamp. Is it separate or is it two LEDs in the same fitting?
Usually, it's possible to remove the fitting and it would be a lot safer to test it out of the vehicle, and better still, test it on a bench power supply with current and voltage limiting

 

More likely you damaged the switch.