I want to service my E350 7.3 '93 myself. One point not very well explained either in the manual nor Haynes was draining of water from the filter/waterseparator.

I have understood what to do now, but my first try ended up with loosening the bottom of the filtermodule itself. (I did not remove the filter). Just some small amounts of fluid ran out.

Do I have a problem if SOME dirt followed the bottom back to the filter? (- I don't think it did, but it is not very spacy or very clean in there.) I believe this bottom is a part of the "dirty" side of the filter?!

I noticed three items in this part. One in the centre (which I now understand is the draining) and two on the diagonale. One of these two was connected to a wire. I guess this is the water sensor.

How does this work?
What is the other item on the diagonale?
Can anybody help me with an illustration or explanation of this construction?
Do I have to do a new, proper drain of the filter?

After I mounted the bottom back the engine fired and stopped a second later. Then I had to crank it for perhaps 30 seconds (but in intervals) before it started again. Some more seconds later the engine run normal. All this was expected.

What I didn't expect was that nearly all power was gone, - The wan hardly accelerated at all. Still no bad sound or smoke. After some miles everything went back to normal.

Is this behaviour to expect?

Thanks for your kind help.
Torstein