Liquid-liquid equilibrium data are presented for the pseudoternary systems isooctane-benzene-(90 mass% methanol + 10 mass% water) at 298.15 K and isooctane-benzene-(80 mass% methanol + 20 mass% water) at 298.15 and 308.15 K, under atmospheric pressure. The experimental tie-line data obtained define the binodal curve for each one of the studied systems which depending on the amount of water present show type I or type II liquid-liquid phase diagrams. In order to obtain a general view of the effect of water on the partitioning of methanol and hence on the size of the two-phase region we have also determined experimentally 'isowater' tolerance curves for the system isooctane-benzene-methanol at 298.15 K, hence the tie-line data were also obtained for the ternary system. The experimental tie-line data for the four systems studied were correlated with the NRTL and UNIQUAC solution models obtaining a very good reproduction of the experimental behaviour. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.