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Hi,
I have a 2000 Explorer XLT. My brake lights failed. They both failed at the same time so it must be something common to both. However the strip brakelight on the top of the rear windscreen is working fine, so the problem must be something that's only common to the conventional brake lights. Anyone got any ideas?
I'm wondering though is there a fuse perhaps, or another part, that's only common to the regular left and right brake lights, and not connected to the strip brake light on the rear window?
If it's the same setup as my '98, try checking/replacing the brakelight switch activated by the pedal. It's only $15-$20 and made all my brake lights (including high-center third light) go out at once. No indicator light came on in dash to let me know, so I was running around dangerously without brake lights for who knows how long until it failed inspection and was noticed.
Again, if the center high brake light also fails to come on, it's probably the switch.
p.s. - The switch is a strange contraption that I could not explain how it works, but after contorting under the dash and replacing it, all was well.
I do not believe there is a seperate puse for the stop lamps as you are thinking. I fairly certain that there is a fuse for all of them, but that would not explain your problem. Try replacing the bulbs. If they continue to blow out, then there is a short some place that needs to be fixed. Since the bulbs are dual filament, do they come on when you turn on the head lights? If so, then you can eliminate a short as the cause.
I had the same problem in my Explorer XLT 98, and changed the bulb 2 times (Generic parts) until replace with Wagner 3157 that have a midle support in the internal filament. After that the brake lights work very weel.
I changed the bulbs. It's working fine now. The old bulbs didn't appear to have blown but did have some black marks around the base.
Still not sure if this is the real fix. It may be that something else caused the old bulbs to fail and will now cause the new ones to fail in the next week or month. Time will tell!