So, for the past 6 weeks i have been cleaning the idle 55 jets on my two weber 40s 30mm vents. Ive cleaned out the clear jelly from the tank to were the car is drivable but cannot get it to last more than about 20 miles when the webers develops poor idle transition. The mains 130 run fine. All plugs are a light tan. After i cleaned the tank it does drives much better, but it stills does not rev through the idle circuit properly after every carb cleaning and a 20 mile drive. I'm just pumping more gas/water into my tank.

I seem to be in an impossible situation since after only two fill ups, I can see the water droplets in the bottom of the tank, again.

The car runs great after i blow out the idle jet and mixture circuit.

In fact i can tell which jet is clogged just by twirling it's mixture needle
and not getting an engine rpm response at engine idle.

So, can someone respond, please, with how they are dealing with this
ethanol fuel?

my search is leading me to a boating marine solution, maybe.

Frank in RI
73 2.0 stock with webers

If the idle jets are clogging it sounds like solid contamination rather than water. You might try taking the gas tank to a radiator place, have the tank boiled out, flush out or replace all fuel lines and install a really good fuel filter. If you are sure it's a water problem, there are some additives you can get to help with that.

I've used SeaFoam for my gas and diesel tanks, but never anything on the 914s.

thanks, every time i do a cleaning i do not see any contaminants. There was a soft clear jelly in the carb bowl that i swabed out with q-tips and lint free shop towels.
I also did it to the inside of the tank. The tank is still good, it even has a clean green coating to it. The carb bowls have not recoated with this clear jelly.

Yes it is a idle jet clog. On some occasion i gently blew trough the jet and noticed a small pop.

I'm defiantly getting water/GAS and it may be of the jelly H2O/ethanol contaminant from my local fuel stations.

I'm reading that additives will make it worse, since they are alcohol based and clean the system then dump it into your carbs. I'm also reading that additives work fine with fuel injection pressures but not with the low pressure that a carb works with, thus easy clogs with older cars.
still reading all i can find

thanks

Buy better gas
Clean the entire fuel system
add a filter right before the carbs
add seafoam to the fuel
buy a fuel water separator

Years ago, I had a friend that had a new Toyo pickup. She had water in her gas tank. The vehicle was only a few months old and purchased new. She took it to the dealer. It wasn't the vehicle, it was the gas station. It was an old gas station with broken underground fuel containers she used reguarly. The water was already in the gasoline they were selling. After successive fill ups the water built up in her gas tank until the truck would no longer run. The problem started out as loss of power, then stalling, then not running at all. This is why I never use old gas stations. I go to new stations or stations that have been remodeled and had the containers dug up and replaced.

P.S. the dealer wanted about $600 to drop the gas tank. We fixed the problem with an old piece of garden hose.

Cut a piece of old hose long enough to reach the bottom of your fuel tank and a few extra feet

Insert hose all the way to the bottom

Blow into hose; Don't suck. You will have to tape off opening around hose to trap air and create and build air pressure.

Once you have enough pressure, the fuel will back flush into the hose and flow out of the hose

Collect the fuel and see how much water is mixed in. She had about 50 % gas 50 % water

Refill with fresh premium fuel and pour in additive that removes water contamination. Repeat a few times.

After a few fill ups the truck was just fine.

I empty water out of my fuel filter on the diesel!

I ordered a water gas separator filter to test the different gas stations in the area
and a glass graduate to test for the ethanol%.

I also have this problem with my other, classic British car. not a hesitation more of a surging at constant speed as with the 914. My British car has stromberg carburetors that use one constant variable tapered jet needle in a well, that is not so sensitive to dirt in the gas stream, but the water still affects the power burn.

I just need to be aware of whats really going into the tank. RI has had a problem
with water in the fuel tanks of stations and there are not that many stations in RI
the Stae hates private business.

thanks everyone