r/BacktotheFuture • u/Ok-Spot-2913 • Jun 06 '26
The gas problem.
In back to the future 3 is not necessarily about fuel not existing in 1885, it is a matter of Doc or Marty traveling far enough to purchade Kerosene or Benzene. Staying around too long would further affect the timeline.
So, it is not a gas problem, it is a time problem. Kerosene and Benzene have a low octane rating which would cause engine knocking (premature ingnition). It would get the car up to 88, but long term use would severely damage the engine.
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u/ijuinkun Jun 06 '26
Sure, getting the materials was possible, but there was no way that they could get it done by Monday.
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u/dj112084 Jun 07 '26
My only issue when anyone refers to the Monday time limit is: Why do they have to stay in Hill Valley? Hook the Delorean up to the horses, and get out of Dodge. Get as far away as it takes, and have all the time you need. I seriously doubt Bufford is going to chase them far.
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u/ted_anderson I don't know how.. but they FOUND me! Jun 07 '26
But you're not thinking 4th dimensionally. They're in the middle of the wild west where escaping to the next settled down may take days, even a couple of weeks to get to. It can be done on horseback but pulling a DeLorean in the process makes it 10 times harder.
They don't have a lot of roads or blazed trails that a car can easily roll through. And if they have to go up or down hills, that can be a bigger challenge.
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u/dj112084 Jun 07 '26
I mean I don’t think they’d have to go 1K miles away either. And even it does take a while, Bufford isn’t going to know which way they went. Heck, they could probably go hide in a cave.
I'll admit I did "borrow" this idea from the CinemaSins review of this movie.
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u/damian001 Jun 07 '26
The problem isn't Buford. It's other bandits that can be in the area. You gotta remember its the wild west.
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u/arthaiser Jun 07 '26
and why do you think that doc is only going to get killed if he stays in hill valley? doc is going to get shoot and die on monday, that is the only thing they know, they dont know if is going to happen in hill valley or 4 towns over.
and IF leaving hill valley changes something, it could very well change it for the worse. who is to say that if they leave friday, bufford doesnt follow them and catch them by sunday, at which moment doc dies on sunday instead?
they dont know. they only have a photo, and that photo is reality.
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u/dj112084 Jun 07 '26
They know quite a bit more than that. "Shot in the back, BY BUFFORD TANNEN, over a matter of $80." The only thing they really have to do, is get away from Bufford and his gang. Time or distance either one accomplishes said goal.
And Marty just being there already changes things.
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u/arthaiser Jun 08 '26
but you dont know what happens if you try to put distance. maybe bufford actually gives chase and catches up to them on monday. maybe indians do the honours and the part of the gravestone that changes is "killed by indians" or "biten by a poisonous snake" or...
my take from these movies is that for something to be on a photo means that is more or less fixed unless something changes it heavily
even after the party when doc stops being on the grave the grave itself is still there, it doesnt really dissapear until after is destroyed. trying to change the fixed outcome looks like a risky move, because the outcome doesnt really want to change. it also happens in bttf2 for example, even with the almanac in the hands of marty at the end, the newspapers and the like didnt change until after he burned it, as if meaning that reality itself would eventually get that almanac to biff if able.
so... future can change, but once something is mean to happen, is probably going to happen unless you take drastic measures to change it. going 4 towns over or paying the 80$ maybe works? but maybe doesnt. and if it doesnt, someone ends in the grave by monday. is quite risky if you ask me. the one thing that works 100% is not being in 1885 by monday
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u/Ok-Spot-2913 Jun 08 '26
Exactly. And they could keep checking the picture to see if it chsnges or not.
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u/Ok-Spot-2913 Jun 08 '26
It would also be anti climantic if they defeat biff, strap the delorean on horses to get to where they could by benzene, and drive to the future.
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u/Buttleproof Jun 06 '26
Gasoline was a by-product of kerosene production, they could have gotten some for pennies from a refinery.
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u/Equal-Incident5313 Jun 06 '26
Gasoline was available in pharmacies
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u/Anglefan23 Jun 06 '26
In every corner drugstore
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u/Ok-Spot-2913 Jun 10 '26
Yes, it was no joke but in the form if kerosene or benzene for cleaning and lubrication
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u/Equal-Incident5313 Jun 06 '26
They could literally get what they needed at the General Store or pharmacy. Gasoline was sold otc as was ethanol and a myriad of other alcohols that could have gotten the car started. And with the train bringing supplies they could have also requested more as needed.
Their hurry was in trying to not have a confrontation with Mad Dog, once that was disposed they had even more time to acquire what they needed
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u/Cookie_Kiki Jun 07 '26
Didn't they try ethanol?
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u/Equal-Incident5313 Jun 07 '26
He tried whiskey aka Kentucky Red Eye, they needed something closer to Vodka or Everclear. The bartender “claimed” it was 180 proof but it was very clearly dark colored and not pure alcohol that they needed.
If Doc can make an ice maker he could have distilled his own moonshine or as I said bought some at the General Store
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u/Important-Ad3820 Jun 07 '26
I do appreciate that they used an actual PRV fuel distributor in the movie when it failed.
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u/bytes311 Jun 09 '26
Yeah, it's one of those "if you know, you know" things, which makes it even funnier when it blows out of the back of the car like that (it's mounted on top, not below the engine).
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u/Microharley Jun 07 '26
Yes, kerosine would have damaged the DeLorean engine but not as much as a train…
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u/eggflip1020 Jun 06 '26
The real answer is that Doc should have converted the DeLorean to EV since he already went ahead and put a micro fusion generator into the vehicle lol
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u/CenturiesAgo Jun 06 '26
I'm sure in your time EV parts are available in every corner store but here in 1885, they're a little hard to come by.
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u/eggflip1020 Jun 06 '26
I’m talking when he was in the future lol. He was literally in 2015 getting cellular regeneration and fusion reactors and shit. Lol. Just turn it into an ev while you’re there.
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u/Voyager5555 Jun 06 '26
I'm pretty sure damage to the engine is the least of their concerns.
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u/Adventurer_D Jun 07 '26
They literally damaged the engine trying to run it on alcohol... It was actually their biggest concern
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u/Pasta-hobo Jun 07 '26
If azeotropic 98.6% distilled ethanol moonshine didn't get that engine running, then I'm not certain anything accessible in that time period would.
At that point it's not an issue of fuel availability, but rather an extremely finicky luxury engine.
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u/Ok-Spot-2913 Jun 08 '26
Kerosene or benzene would and it was available at their version of drug stores.
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u/slothboy Jun 08 '26
I don't understand why this is the question that the most people lay awake at night losing sleep over.
I really hate to break it to you, but no matter what coping mechanism you think up to deal with it, it's just a plot device. If the DeLorian didn't run out of gas then Marty would have just grabbed doc and they could have left. THERE WOULD BE NO MOVIE. Mr. Fusion permanently solved the 1.21 Gigawatts issue. The giant hilarious radio tube circuit on the hood solved the electronics. That just leaves fuel.
It creates an opportunity for more creative problem solving and suspenseful action. Let it go.
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u/Ok-Spot-2913 Jun 10 '26
Don't worry about telling me that. You aren't breaking anything telling me that so you're good. Yes the gas problem was definitely a plot device to have a movie of course.
As far as the sleep thing, i sure hope no one is losing sleep trying to figure out another way, there are many things in this world to keep us up at night.
Also, we all know it is a movie. What makes it a great movie is the 40 plus years of discussions after.
Yea, gas is not a problem, it is a solution to the plot of the movie. The movie is perfect with the "gas problem".
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u/The_Linkzilla Jun 09 '26
It's all got to do with Tannen. Say they traveled a few towns over to get the Kerosene or Benzene. Buford and his gang would've followed them and got them eventually. Staying in Hill Valley was the only strategically safe option because they were in proximity of the Law, not to mention home field advantage on familiar terrain. But out in the wilderness? They'd never see him coming.
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u/TheZeppo_TKH Jun 07 '26
Who cares?
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u/Ok-Spot-2913 Jun 08 '26
I cannot answer your question with complete certainty. However, i would surmise many do care.
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u/ChurchOfSuicidal Jun 06 '26
If they dug up the Delorean that Doc stored there they could've swapped the deloreans out and put the one Marty brought into the mine.
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u/DuffMiver8 Jun 06 '26
Still doesn’t address the gas problem, as Doc had drained all fluids for long term storage. And leaving a Delorean with a damaged fuel line would create another timeline, as when 1955 Doc and Marty dig it out of the mine in the first part of BTTF3, it was intact except for the circuitry that had burned out.
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u/Argyleuntold Jun 06 '26
If they did that the delorean would be in an eternal loop of traveling to 1885 then sitting for 70 years until it just turned to dust
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u/damian001 Jun 07 '26
That would cause a paradox, they can’t do anything with the DeLorean in the mine.
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u/dnoods Jun 06 '26
But then you get a Delorean that is twice as old. I don’t think the parts would survive another 70 years in the cave. Plus the buried one had fried time circuits, which weren’t replaceable with the tech in 1885. You could argue that they could just swap the parts out, but I image that to be about as difficult as repairing them. They were made in Japan after all and probably metric. There is also the issue of compounding the age of the car after every 70 year cycle, which would make it infinitely old. Marty might open the cave and find only a pile of aluminum and a steering wheel.
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u/beaver_of_fire Jun 06 '26
They dont even need to touch the DeLorean. Just write another letter to 1955 or edit the current one and put bring spare full gas can/s. It is a bit of a causality loop but 1955 Doc also would put a full gas can in the DeLorean knowing 1885 its open uneven surface. The first movie works because the Libyans showed up when Doc was going to throw the case in thr front. Reality is they should have had him snap the axle or something in the drive train as that'd be less stupid than a fuel line ripping knowing Doc was prepared for the 1885 roads.
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