[frempath]

Hmm, Maryland must be fairly new to the alcohol fuels scene. I remember much of the same 30 years ago in Nebraska. What was discovered was that the alcohol did cause petroleum based plastics that had not been designed with it in mind to melt when exposed to alcohol fuels. The fix was the replacement of those plastics with new products made with alcohol in mind. As to the rust issue, the alcohol fuels did not cause rust, but did in fact break down rust. That caused rusted out fuel tanks and lines to suddenly not have big chunks of rust plugging up the holes that were already there. 30 years ago you also had these same problems with vehicles, but the newer vehicles have been built to handle alcohol. The old 93 Taurus I had was even a "Flex Fuel" that could handle up to 80% alcohol.

The biggest problem with small engines and alcohol is not the engine so much as the carburetor. Alcohol blend fuels vaporize at about 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than regular gasoline. This is not a problem in fuel injected engines, but carburetors can experience vapor lock during summer months at a cooler temperature than you would expect. 90 degrees at 3000 feet is where we used to start to see it.

So, I guess the short answer is that you may need to get the engine retuned, but that should be about it. If your local gas station is complaining about storage leaks caused by alcohol, find a new station. They probably have old rusty equipment and have been selling you contaminated fuel for some time.