hi guys, im wondering whether changing the oil fluid in car aircon compressor is necessary.

it started off from googling why car is slightly underpower when aircon is turned on, and not during the aircon is off.

some of them pointed out is due to the lubricant in the aircon compressor, and it needed to be lubricated once in a while.

so does changing the lubricant in the aircon compressor really necessary and reduce the friction between the engine and the aircon compressor??

There's always compressor oil of a specified amount within the refrigerant system, don't matter whether its your home fridge, room aircon or even car aircon. The common conventional domestic refrigeration appliances and car air-conditioning all depend on compressor oil within for lubricating the compressor in operation. Therefore, whenever there's refrigerant leakage or system is evacuated, there's surely some oil loss in the process, not all. Its therefore required to add some (only a few cc) oil to make up for the loss. In event of a total stripdown of the compressor, the installer have to fill specified amount of the right type of oil, vacuum and recharge the system.
The compressor would eventually wear down, become noisy or fail if there's no oil in the system.

so till the end, does replacing the oil necessary?

If you choose not to maintain the compressor, you can choose to replace the compressor when time comes.

how long i need to change the oil?

The compressor oil is for the lifetime of the car, say 10 years max?
ON condition, there's no leaks, no external or mechanical damage to the refrigeration system that result in leak and empty. Refrigeration system is a SEALED SYSTEM. It won't be contaminated like engine oil.
Change of oil would be a logical idea if the system is stripped down for fan coil cleaning, might as well, as the amount of oil is not much and not costly. Oil is added during the vacuum process, then recharge refrigerant.
If you're asking change oil every few years, the answer is no. As said, the oil can only be filled or topped up during gas recharge process, its not the same as changing engine oil or opening some nut and refill.

Follow your car service schedule documentation.

For Proton cars, it suggests to top up on every aircon service, or during refrigerant change/topup.

Is true when aircon is on, car is underpower.

It also depends what is your car's C.C.

this sums it up pretty much

What is recommended to change for longevity, reliability and consistency of a car air con is to have it checked and serviced every few years. Car aircon is likely the hardest worked system and open to much more air contaminants than room airconditioner. The compressor is a very hardy piece of engineering but also vulnerable to premature failure anytime, just like any other machinery.

A proper service will involve, dismantling the fan coil, evaporator coil for thorough cleaning to maintain its cooling efficiency, replace the receiver drier (this component prevents moisture buildup withing the refrigerant system as any moisture is AirCon Public enemy #1), and a thorough check for any gas leakages in the piping and joints. A very competent and ethical air con shop will do all these systematically, including oil top up when recharging the system. Car air con system works most efficiently when everything is in balance. Any major component not functioning properly or coils clogged or contaminated will upset the balance. Its never always when not cold, people point to insufficient refrigerant gas and a top up is needed, not always so. I've mentioned earlier, the refrigerant line is a sealed system, gas don't simply deplete unless there's some leakage somewhere along the system line.

This post has been edited by bsl555: Nov 25 2015, 04:54 PM

this i want to highlight specifically.

a thorough job will cost a LOT more and take a lot longer hours especially on modern cars where the bumper, some engine compartment/components may need to be remove to access the air cond system.
same for the internal dashboards/trims that may need to be removed.

the labor cost including parts (generally just the drier, gas and some compressor oil, cleaner/flush solution etc) can go between 300-500, if not more depending on the part pricing and the complexity in accessing the air cond system.

a huge majority of air cond shops out there, just refill/recharge gas and top up compressor oil and call it a day.
much cheaper and quicker, hence malaysians only prefer this and assumes that this is the only/correct way and deems the thorough way a scam.

You're absolutely right. Of course, many techs will just recharge gas, so easy, nothing to it, the peril is yours if any issues still persist. I can also charge gas easily..no rocket science armed with manifold gauge and a tong of refrigerant..couple of minutes, thats it.. LOL!
When gas is depleted till nearly nothing, there's surely some leakage and that must be rectified otherwise it'll recur in a short time and its back to the shop for another top up/refill.

indeed. my car is civic fd 1.8, 1800cc

kinda high mileage, about 240k km.

im not sure if its due to aging engine or what, but the basic maintenance like engine oil and atf has been done each 10k km.

1.8 shld be strong. mine 1.3 can feel the difference and gap

unless u might consider turn to 2.1c.c

I test before. 1 week without AC fuel consumption also LOW