405 1.9d fuel filter water drain

Hi
Fitted a new fuel filter some time ago and now need to do the 6000 mile
"drain water from fuel filter".
Found a piece of plastic tube that fitted the draincock and then turned the
screw anticlockwise.

Hiss of air but no water and no fuel! Must be an air lock - closed off the
bleed screw. No problem starting the engine. Stopped the engine and repeated
the bleed procedure - same result.

First time I have tried this - Seems a straightforward job according to the
Haynes manual. Do I need to loosen off the hex bolts at the top of fuel
filter housing to enable fuel/water to flow from the bleed screw ?

Bit reluctant to do this as I have misplaced my locking compund to properly
lock off the bolts when the job is completed. ( Peugeot charge £1.40 each
for replacement bolts)

Or is it just normal if no water has been collected at the bottom of the
fuel filter for no fuel/water to flow?

Any help appreciated

 

In 300,000 miles of motoring which is a lot of filter changes I have only
once seen any water in the fuel (after a cheap supermarket fill up)
It is possible the drain pipe is blocked, but I only drained mine down this
way the first time I did the job. It takes ages to empty.
I wipe the filter area clean and wrap clean rag around the filter body to
catch any spillage, take out the 4 screws remove the lid and filter element.
At the bottom of the filter housing if there is any water you will see it as
little drops at the bottom. There might be other small pieces of debris. The
drain pipe is carefully sited so that it doesnt actually drain all this out
anyway. If its clean leave the fuel there and pop in the new filter element.
If there is a lot of muck there drain it down and clean out carefully with
lint free cloth or paper. Refit the lid and screws. Remove the rag. It is
important to take care to keep ALL dirt away from the area
I never knew the screws had locking compound on. Mine certainly dont now and
I've never had a problem with leaks.
Note that this is not a bleed screw. All the bleeding is done with the
rubber bulb and hence no mess unlike other engines I have worked on.

 

My Xantia 1.9td (similar engine) does much the same but without the his
of air. I find the only way to get any flow through the tube is to use
the priming bulb.