For air-cond service matter:
Under 2 scenario:
1) Olskol aircon setup with R12 gas, without cabin filter, compressor without torque cut out. You NEED to do aircon service under routine bassis.
2) Neuskol aircon setup with R134 gas, with cabin filter, compressor got torque cut out function, you only NEED to do some regular DIY maintenance or send in aircon guy/SC to let them cut throat.
Things to take care:
1) Olskol aircon came with R12 gas, low pressure, high cooling effect, bad thing is because it cool so fast and the gasket/insuflex suffer from drastic changed in temperature. It will develope symptoms like gas leak, dirty condensor(residue of koyak gasket). Regular service is inevitable, because those days cooling coil was blown directly by the blower. U know I know blower suck recycle air from the passenger glovebox compartment. Without paper filter, human slime/saliva kena suck in & lekat at the cooling coil, later dust kena stick by the saliva. After 2-3 years of none stop accumulation, your coolig coil can't even squeeze an ant. At that time, u go service aicond, the mech use chemical to clean, if your coil still thick can stand la. Otherwise like Z1 cakap will bocor then your money gone.
Some preventive action may reduce chance of money fly away is to make sure your passenger side floor mat is clean! This will reduce dust being suck in by the blower. If you use coil mat, buy an extra RUBBER MAT put on top, RM8/pc only. Make sure u soak the rubber mat with soap water 1st before use, otherwise those chemical smell can make u high. Refrain from using clip on liquid freshener(increase of slime). Ask your passenger talk gently, don't spill saliva. Vacum your cooling coil & wind channel once in a blue moon. Your olskol aircond system can easily lat u 5 years+ before any major issue occur.
2) Neuskol aircon is easier to take care. R134 gas need higher pressure, but slower cooling effect compare to olskol. However, car manufacturer use high speed blower to overcome this problem. Basically the whole aircon system was designed to withstand outside high heat, cabin cold environment. We GaGa citizens consider blessed bcoz new technology applied. By adding a piece of paper filter can draw extra moisture/human slime(saliva)/body odor from recycling. When cooling coil dry means dust very hard to stick. If you don't have a paper filter, buy 1 and install it. Change your cabin filter if wind doesn't get through. Other than that, normal maintenance like cleaning wind channel will do.
Some common stuffI personally don't do air-cond service until something wrong. Just take note on these few things and u save your wallet being punctured a big hole.
1) If aircon suddenly not cold, please switch off aircond immediately. It could be cooling coil too dirty, dirt stuck at cooling fin become ice, wind couldn't get through. If keep on powering up aircon, refigerant also become ice, ended up extreme pressure may blow -» cooling coil/hose/compressor. Service cooling coil.
2) When sometimes cold sometimes not cold, could be thermostat jammed. When this happened, your compressor could overworked and keep charging refigerant into the cooling coil. As a result, condensor overheat may cause radiator boil oso.
3) When traffic jam time, aircon not cold. Could be your radiator fan. Bear in mind GaGa only got 1 fan. Get the fan thoroughly inspect, or you may melt your engine.
4) Continue number 3, radiator coolant too low, sensor didn't get trigger to spin the fan. Check radiator/water pump whether function properly.
5) When aircon kick in can hear fry clam sound from compressor... You have a leak hose previously. Refigerant came with lubricants, when u leak gas you tend to lose lubricant. The wear off piston/valves/fin in the compressor normally developed after refigerant leak. Nothing much u can do to rectify. Add a can of additive to the compressor to try your luck see how long can it last. Don't bother to service your aicond system at this time, unless you already planned to change the compressor.
In short, whenever you discover aircond no longer cold, it means lost of refigerant/valve sumbat. Turn off your aircond and send for service immediately. I'm not talking about no wind come out, if no wind check blower. I
service repair my aircon in Taman Kinrara YKS behind AmBank. Not the cheapest in town, but price is reasonable & very honest tauke. Whenever thing can be use back, he will try to retain. Very detail thorough work, lots of explaination when asked. 5 thumbs up, 2 hands, 2 legs and... Nevermind la