Separation has not been a problem for me. But I have had to replace all the flexible fuel line and clean out the carbureters on my 1989 Sea Doo and 1999 Nissan outboard. Alcohol turned the insides of the fuel lines into a soft gel which gummed up the carbs in short order.
In South Carolina around 5 percent of the auto gas stations sell unadulterated gasoline. It's the station operator's option to order pure gas without ethanol. I use E-0 in my old engines including a 180 hp Lycoming which is happy with 93 octane (premium) gasoline except in hot weather when vapor locking is a problem.
Another option, if you don't mind spending $5 or so per gallon, is to buy 100 octane, leaded, ethanol free. less volatile, 100 low lead gas at practically any airport that sells fuel. Beware: lead will accumulate in and plug a catalytic converter, so do NOT put even a tiny amount of 100LL in your car. 100LL is on many hit lists. So far there is no viable substitute for high compression airplane engines some of which require 140 octane fuel. It costs $15K to several times that to overhaul an airplane engine because of very strict quality control and high product liability costs. Design modification is far more expensive. Then if the horsepower of a modified engine is reduced a plane worth $100K may not have enough power to climb at a safe rate.
In South Carolina around 5 percent of the auto gas stations sell unadulterated gasoline. It's the station operator's option to order pure gas without ethanol. I use E-0 in my old engines including a 180 hp Lycoming which is happy with 93 octane (premium) gasoline except in hot weather when vapor locking is a problem.
Another option, if you don't mind spending $5 or so per gallon, is to buy 100 octane, leaded, ethanol free. less volatile, 100 low lead gas at practically any airport that sells fuel. Beware: lead will accumulate in and plug a catalytic converter, so do NOT put even a tiny amount of 100LL in your car. 100LL is on many hit lists. So far there is no viable substitute for high compression airplane engines some of which require 140 octane fuel. It costs $15K to several times that to overhaul an airplane engine because of very strict quality control and high product liability costs. Design modification is far more expensive. Then if the horsepower of a modified engine is reduced a plane worth $100K may not have enough power to climb at a safe rate.
