I just bought a 97 f350 7.3L and the "water in fuel" light was on so I went to replace the filter and noticed a lot of rust build up at the bottom. Would not drain out. At the time I do not have the funds to replace the whole bowl its self and just need to temporarily clean all the rust out.
I see there is a small medal disk inside and I was wondering if I can remove that and just suck up all the rust? Or maybe there is an easier way!

If anyone can get me some Tricks and tips that would be awesome. Looked up a lot of videos but just a lot of it was replacing the whole unit its self. If need be I will do that but just thought I would try and get some help before being stranded

 

small metal disk is a heater, i would leave it alone, i would pull the rubber hose off of the drain valve and blow air back through, maybe use some diesel or kerosene to see if you can get the rust to flow out then. If i remember right, the fuel filter bowl is aluminum, therefore not where the rust is coming from. if you can get it clean it should be okay, i would check for rust in the tank, that is probably where the problem is coming from.