How old is my Motorcraft car battery?

Type the date code from the Motorcraft label to see when it was built.

Reading a Motorcraft serial number

The sticker shows the date twice. C-2 is a month letter and a year digit. 3-2 is the month number and the same year digit. Both mean March of a year ending in 2.

Ford’s warranty manual says to use this shipping date code to work out the battery’s age. The code stamped on top, like GB1A58, is not explained by Ford, so the checker does not read it.

About Motorcraft

Motorcraft is Ford’s parts brand. Ford bought Electric Autolite in 1961 and renamed the parts line Motorcraft in 1972.
Motorcraft batteries come in Tested Tough MAX and Tested Tough PLUS lines, and Ford recommends them for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles.

Sources: Ford Motor Company Service Brands, Vehicle Battery | Parts | Ford.com

Shipping date sticker

Used since at least 2005. Example: C232

A round green and white sticker on the side shows the shipping date twice: a month letter and year digit (C-2), and a month number and year digit (3-2). Both mean March of a year ending in 2.

Worked example: C-2 3-2 fits March 2012 or March 2022. The page above explains how to tell which.

Sources: Ford Authorized Distributor manual, Motorcraft batteries, Section 9400 (PDF), It Still Runs: how to check the date on a Motorcraft battery