Water separator & filter MK2 1992 Jetta ECOdiesel

[DanV990]

I bypassed and removed the water separator from under the car beneath rear passenger seat today because it was leaking.
Is the filter in the engine compartment supposed to act as a water separator too? It is a black cylinder right behind the air filter that has fuel lines coming out the top. When I opened the valve on the bottom of it today nothing came out it just let air in. When I had opened that valve in August when I swapped engines a little fuel had come out of it. I'm wondering why fuel came out of it then, but today over 3,000 miles later all that opening the valve did was let air in. Also if it is a filter how do you change it?

[TurboJ]

If you find a plastic nut with an outlet tube under that main filter, then it has a water separator for sure.

Then again, some filters have a water separating feature even though there isn't an outlet plug in them...

[nathantheengineer]

You have to pull the retaining R clip and gently prise the yellow union out of the top of the filter.  Undo the jubilees and remove the hoses from the barbs on the filter. ( keep this photo as reference to orientation of pipework).

Undo the large phillips screw that holds the band around the filter ( looks like a mk3 in the photo, when i do them i remove the inlet hose from the airbox end to allow a good purchase on the screw).

All this is possible undoing the filter band first but doing it last is much easier.

To aid restarting the car afterwards pour diesel into the filter through the hole where the yellow union sits until its full.

As a good old Haynes manual says refitting is the reverse of removal!!