New guy here and my '97 350 won't start

[Eldudarino]

Before I continue with the post I just want to say how helpful and informative all the knowledge floating around this site has been to me already in the short time since I discovered it.

Now here's my problem. I just bought the truck 3 weeks ago, it was traded in at the dealership I work at so I don't really know any history on the truck. I took it on a few test drives before I bought it and it seemed to run well for an almost ten year old truck with 221,000 miles. When I drove it home after buying it the fuel filter light came on while I was on the way home. I replaced the filter the next day (with an aftermarket filter because it already had an aftermarket). After replacing the filter, the fuel filter light would still come on intermittently. I didn't drive it for five or so days and drove it work one morning. After letting it warm up and getting about five miles from home I started getting power loss and it eventually died. It restarted after about five minutes and after a few attempts at restarting. It ran on in fine and made it most of the way home fine when I experienced a power loss after about 15 miles of running, but it didn't shut off. I only drove it a few miles last weekend with no problems. Today I decided that I was going to change the oil and filter and drain the water/fuel separator and see if it helped the problem. After doing both, I get out of the driveway and about a half mile through the neighborhood and it shuts down and I can't get it to restart. The batteries actually drained while I was trying to restart, so I have those on the charger tonight. While I was attempting to start I would get the Water in Fuel, Battery, and Fuel Filter lights coming on the dash. I don't believe the check engine light ever came on, my dad has a code reader so I'm going to see if I can get any codes to pull in the morning. And the worst part of it all? My dad towed me back to the house with a Honda Ridgeline, I guess I'll think again before making fun of it for not being a real truck. I'm also just a bodyman by trade, so I could be easily overlooking any obvious problems.

[bvfd2596]

i had the same thing happen to me after i changed filter an fuel pump. take a look at the fuel heater under the fuel filter {in the filter housing } if it is lose from it's base it will short out an shut the ecm down. save your self some money an go to international an get it { part # 1831196c92} will cost about have of fords price.also look to see if you have a blown fuse in the power box under the hood on drivers side in finder { #8maxi #22maxi } hope this helps you let us know

[Eldudarino]

I've been unable to get any codes to read so far. Also, should the fuel be draining out of where the fuel filter is housed when I hit the water/fuel separator switch?