Questions and Answers
Stripped Battery Terminal
Q. I have a 1990 Chevy Lumina with a side terminal battery. The last person stripped the negative terminal. I have very little space to work around the battery. I was wondering if you had any ideas or recommendations on tools or procedures to use to remove the terminal from the battery.
(Who thought side terminals were a good idea??)
Thank you for your time.
A. Don't look at me, I think side terminal batteries suck. Only GM could come up with an idea like that.
Anyway, it's going to be tough. One thing you might want to try is putting a pair of vice grips on the terminal bolt and pull out on the terminal while you turn the bolt. If you don't have to room to do it effectively, unbolt the opposite end of the cable and take out the battery, cable and all. Once it's out and on the bench, it should be fairly easy to work the bolt out in this manner. The bolt screws into lead which is very soft and sometimes if you cock the bolt as you turn it, it will dig in and screw out.
By the way, they sell adapters to convert side post to top post.
Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA
