Well this may not be very satisfying to those interested in the gory mess I was about to undertake but got lucky and will chalk up a win. I took a small flat blade screwdriver and I pried it lightly between the heat shrink anode and cathode of the offending LED. I hit it then with my meter and it worked. Looks like the metal anode and cathode leads on the back of the LED were shorted inside the fixture/flasher socket out of view.
If an LED ever does need replacement this will take extreme patience, steady hands, and excellent vision to pull this off. I hope it won't have to be me.
Thanks for the ideas, questions, and support.
