UPDATE: I took off the cover that holds the drain lever and naturally some fuel came out of there. So I put the cover back on and tried to drain it. It drained a steady stream for the first time. I drained about 8 oz. Yesterday I went on a trip of about 350 miles and have not seen the light at all. Before I was able to get it to drain properly I would have seen the light in this amount of time. Thanks everybody for the all the help, it looks like the problem is solved (knock on wood). Now I have to make this part of my monthly routine. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

 

Glad that worked for you. I assume there was something inside that was clogging it up?

 

I assume so, I couldn't see anything I was in my garage and it was night time.

 

I had the same problem draining mine the first time, I found out just leaving the valve open over night and let it completly drain in a small pan works best.

 

Ford 1996 1997 F-Series water separator fuel filter assembly