Avoid ethanol as much as possible, try not to let it set for long periods of time with ethanol.
I found the opposite situation, but gas is produced regionally with a lot of variation so both our cases are anecdotal
Old days gas go bad after a while for me but the Modern ethanol blends in Saskatchewan let me abandon my trucks for over a year
I get in and crank and it’s fires up after the pump primes the carb
My old farmall starts even better it doesn’t care at all
Ethanol is a very stable molecule it cannot decompose spontaneously without heat or light so it makes sense
Ethanol can also be used instead of formaldehyde to preserve tiny things In glass jars but it’s not as great
Something else in the gas is breaking down and causing issues but it is not the ethanol
If ethanol could go bad you wouldn’t want to drink old whiskeys at the liquor store
-s
As someone who spent his entire career in the petroleum industry (and lived in SK) I must interject. There is a reason ethanol is not allowed in aircraft engines. Ethanol is hydrophilic - it absorbs moisture from the ambient air. Ethanol is also highly corrosive; it literally digests any rubber components in antique vehicle fuel systems. My company spent millions replacing virtually all their pumping equipment after the ethanol blends dissolved the seals into swollen blobs of goo. After witnessing this, and being an airplane pilot, I won't let ethanol fuel touch any of my vintage cars, especially if it's going to sit for any length of time. To find stations that dispense ethanol-free gas in your area visit this web page:
https://www.pure-gas.org/
