Rear Driver Side Map Light Stopped Working

[Eurythmian]

I replaced interior bulbs with bright white bulbs without any issues until my last one in the rear map light over head handle. It's not the bulb. When I was removing the screws and pulled the unit out I noticed the old bulb started flickering. I made sure I didn't pull on the wiring to avoid breaking anything. All this plastic crap breaks so easy. I removed the old yellow bulb and replaced it with the white light bulb - like I did on the other side. It stopped working. I can mess with the switch, clicking it on and off multiple times and the bulb might flash and go out briefly. It's not consistent at all. I'm not sure what caused this to happen and it pisses me off that the most simple thing doesn't work properly. I know it's just a light but it really does piss me off. I wanted I brighter interior and ended up with a brighter front seat but black back seat area.

Any ideas and what I may need to do to fix it?
Thanks for any help.
Eurytmian

 

[FDR]

The old bulb's flickering tells you there was already some kind of damage to either the wiring or the switch. You have to do some diagnosis with a multimeter or test light to find where the problem is...

 

[joegr]

It's easy to break the plastic apart that holds the switch together when you change the bulb. Pull the assembly out and hold the plastic of the switch together and see if it works okay while you are doing that. If so, you may have to glue it back together.

 

[Eurythmian]

The old bulb's flickering tells you there was already some kind of damage to either the wiring or the switch. You have to do some diagnosis with a multimeter or test light to find where the problem is...

Update... This morning when starting the car I discovered the interior lights would not shut off. I messed with the switch again. Made sure it wasn't the dimmer up front. Nothing worked. So I thought... Bypass the switch to eliminate if it's simply a defective switch. I cut the wires and pulled the door closed. All lights dimmed and went out. It's s dead switch. Ford says they are no longer available so eBay, here I come. I found a replacemet for 24.00 (bonus!). I figured I would splice and dice the wiring and be done with it.

Nice to know it wasn't something I did... Or something wrong with the wiring. What a relief for once. Simple fix.