Can a battery drain be caused by a live wire touching the chassis?

I've been stripping wiring today from my car and when i went to start it, after a few times previous, before it was starting fine, i noticed it was struggling to start.

So it eventually started and it was running fine for about 30 minutes just idling, then all of a sudden it's idle started going funny.
I turned the car off and then tried starting it and the car wouldn't start at all now, i then left it for a while, tried starting it again and it struggled and then died again.

The only thing i can think of as the problem is a battery drain from a wire that is live and was lying against the chassic, causing the battery to drain, is this possible?

Other than this i guess the alternator could have decided to pack up, but it was working fine a couple a week ago and hasn't been turned on for a couple of weeks.
The battery could be low i guess but it should have charged once running yet it was completely dead, so battery drain big enough to stop the car from chargine the battery as a live wire was touching the chassis?

Thanks

 

check light isnt on in boot,i got through 3 batteries because boot switch to the bulb was faulty,causing permanent live bulb.

 

It's unlikely to be a live wire touching the chassis because a direct short would blow the fuse on that specific circuit.
Even intermittent contact of a live wire on the chassis would take out the relevant fuse instantly.

I believe Subaru for some reason have things wired so they are permanantely at 12V with the switching being in the return to chassis wire.

You could try an ammeter connected in series with the live feed from the battery. There should be a constant small current ( maybe a few milliamps ) for the alarm. But if you have a larger drain try removing and replacing the fuses one at a time until the meter reading drops. Then you have at least identified the circuit causing the drain.

 

What voltage is your battery when everything is off?

 

If when running the voltage to the battery is say 15/16 v then alternator is over charging battery which will kill it over time , have you removed a ground wire ? That may cause your issue .

 

I'll have to borrow a multimeter and check.

How can a removed earth cause a battery drain, i have temp removed a couple?

Thanks

 

Not so much the voltage you need to check when everything is off, You need to disconnect the live terminal on the battery and hook and ammeter up and check to see what amperage is being drawn when the whole the car is sat locked and alarmed or in a neutral state when the car is unlocked but nothing switched on.