2004 Trailblazer battery drain/cluster kinda stays on with key off (part 1)
After replacing the battery in my new-to-me 2004 Trailblazer I noticed that the battery light as well as the prndl message stayed on in the cluster with the key off. This is probably what pulled the battery down to under one volt. Or so I thought. Removing the fuses for the cluster did turn the cluster off, but the key off draw on the battery was still over 46 times greater then specification. After some fuse pulling fun, the draw dropped to an acceptable 10mA.
Stay tuned for part 2 where the IGN A circuit is tested and the root cause of Minty's battery problem is found. I have a theory about what is causing ONLY the battery and prndl to light up but I'll save it until I can prove it. If you have access to the TB diagrams see what IGN 0 powers up and see where the cluster gets its battery warning and prndl messages from.
Fun fact: PRINDLE is slang for the PRND321 message in the cluster.