When pushing the brake pedal on my 1997 ford explorer the brake lights do not come on. The bulbs are good and burn when lights are turned on.

Locate brake light switch, which has a connector going to it and is attached to the top of the brake pedal. It's attached to the end of a pushrod, which goes through the firewall.

1. Remove connector and clean contacts with abrassive cloth.
2. Spray switch with WD-40.
3. Replace switch, if this doesn't fix the problem.

When pushing the brake pedal on my 1997 ford explorer the brake lights do not come on. The bulbs are good and burn when lights are turned on.
There's a switch at the top of your brake pedal that turns on the brake lights,. did you check your fuses?

The rear bulbs are for running lights and a separate filament for the brake, just because they glow when the lights are on does not mean the bulb is good. The others make a good point looking for something in common with both bulbs, THE BRAKE SWITCH. BUT the obvious would be bad bulbs 1156 is single filiment 1157 is dual if its got newer style coule be diff numbers

When pushing the brake pedal on my 1997 ford explorer the brake lights do not come on. The bulbs are good and burn when lights are turned on. the brake switch by the brake pedal could be bad. It would be under the dash by brake pedal.

The brake switch by the brake pedal could be bad. It would be under the dash by brake pedal.

Does the 3rd stop light work? If the 3rd stoplight is on but the reg. stop lights are not it can be a bulb but not the switch. If all fails the next thing to check is the turn signal switch as the brake light wires go threw it and if the turnswitch is not making a good connection the lights will not go on but the turn lights will