Hey guys so my ford fiesta wasn't showing any bars on the temperature gauge, then when i turned the car off and back on i noticed it struggled a little to start. After that the battery was completely drained and would not start. I tried charging the battery at AutoZone only for it to start a few times with the temp gauge working and then go back to being completely dead.
Has anyone else had this issue? The only other problem I have with the car is that it struggles to start after pumping gas, but always turns on after the second crank. Could these problems be connected somehow? Any help is greatly appreciated.
What does your console tell you?
(Not to sound stupid but...)
Your Dashboard, if not all the SENSORS are connecting - they don't always light up - the circuit to them is OPEN, just as bad as a dead short - at least with a short, you see the light left on in the console for the circuit it affects ..
When they are OPEN, does not mean it still communicates and then says "hey wait a minute" - no they are OFF - and stay OFF - does your "key to ON before starting look like this?"
Some will wink out after a moment (self test) yes, but some will ALWAYS BE ON until the Engine is started.
When you start having Starting problems, one of two things are wrong - Engine and mechanics of it, or you have Electrical problems...
The issue I see in the above from you is you are not always seeing "Temperature" gauge working - so if that is not working - then you have a connector, or several connectors - loose or even blown fuses creating problems with your dash trying to report what it wants you to know.
When you have "no start" can be from bad cables - causing your battery to go dead, or it could be that you do short trips and that the alternator is unable to fully recharge the battery while driving - this condition sulfates the plates - causing shorts across cells of the battery. LACK OF RUN TIME TO RECHARGE - kills batteries - from lack of ability to fully recharge.
If you drive less than 10 minutes to get somewhere, how is the battery even going to get a partial recharge from the running of the engine on such a short trip?
Ok, it's a little better if you can drive for 15 minutes, that length of time allows the battery some ability to balance the electrolyte in the cells and keep the plates from sulfating and shorting out together.
The problem with short trips, or any "quik-trip" is the reliance on CLEAN good strong Battery Connections and this means the Charging system and the Electrical may need to be checked.
You should have codes getting set on these conditions - if not, then the low-battery or loose connections - clears out the codes, can't store them - so this will be an enigma until you get under the hood and start checking for bad corroded wiring, bad loose fuses and or loose battery and ground terminal connections.
Fords are a lot like the Millennium Falcon - Han Solo was always having to fix it...