the side terminals are identical to the top posts on the battery....some vehicals...like older gm vehicals....actually have the pos. and neg. screww into the battery for their connection... my 86 fiero is the same way thats what it does...some batterys... such as optimas...are sometimes equiped with both top post an side posts so that they fit multiple types of vehicals

no "side posts" should actually be on the "side" of the battery with threaded holes to do ^^^^^

Here you go, here is a picture.http://www.batterymart.com/graphics/00000001/225/optima_yellowtop.jpg

The luddites at GM still insist on using some goofy, half-assed proprietary battery connections with a screw that threads into the battery's lead. But then, they haven't figured out which way is up for a lock tumbler, and last time I dealt with one of their wheeled turds they still thought the doors and the car should have different keys, so there you are.

Defiant said:

The luddites at GM still insist on using some goofy, half-assed proprietary battery connections with a screw that threads into the battery's lead. But then, they haven't figured out which way is up for a lock tumbler, and last time I dealt with one of their wheeled turds they still thought the doors and the car should have different keys, so there you are.

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more.

After seeing the underside of 150+ GM cars in a year (and being the dumb-ass-proud owner of one for 4), I really learned the value of something the ironically retarded company likes to call 'engineering'

GM made those side posts on plenty of cars that had no reason to use it, other than to make the owners responsible for replacing parts, and not the dealer. OEM Battery terminals are soft aluminum, so be prepared to completely shred the inside of the battery.

You can buy the oversized GM screws and use them to power your accessories if you like, but I’d just rather use the top terminals and not worry about the screw falling out of the terminal… you never hear of that happening to the normal external battery terminals do you?

/endrant

What are circled in the picture though are not the GM style side posts. Optima 25s do not have the side posts. The Optima 25/75s do. I don't know what those other things are, but they're not terminals.

I just took a look under the hood... my yellow top (34/78) has the same things... looks like it's got salt/sand glued to it.. odd..