94 Astro van battery problem

I bought a '94 Astro van and replaced the battery, but it only starts when boosted. The dash reads under 14v when I turn the key. I disconnected the negative battery cable while it was running, and it stayed on, but after shutting it off, it won’t start again. There’s a weird grounding setup with a cable between two washers on the positive terminal. I lost the originals and used different washers, but it didn’t help. Any ideas on what’s wrong?

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Try sanding each side of those bolts and ring terminals. They look warn.

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Check your fuses. Mite have blown one playing with the wires.

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Greetings… Where is the negative battery terminal grounded? It looks like it’s been replaced and should go directly to the engine block, while the smaller ground wires should be connected to the body. You might need to add some washers to the positive terminal as well. Either way, it sounds like there’s a bad connection somewhere

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I don’t believe that’s a grounding cable from the positive… that is a circuit breaker probably for some upfitting accessory inside of the vehicle… Just because the wire is black doesn’t make it a ground…

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