One for the AC experts.

[dpetryk]

The AC compressor on one of my 420's is begining to make a little noise. Neither of my other two cars make any noise from the compressor. They all have the Nippondenso 10P17C compressor. The noise is not bad but I can hear it when it turns. I never was able to do that before. I am assuming that the compressor is getting noisey because it is near the end of its life.

So here is the question;

Should I replace the the compressor before it fails or wait till it fails? The fact that it is begining to make noise an indication that failure is iminent?

My thinking is that if you replaced the compressor before catastrophic failure occurs, then the system will not be subjected to having all the debris that the compressors shed when they do finally fail. So it seems like it would be better to change it before it does fail and save yourself all the hassle of flushing the entire system. On the other hand, it might not fail for a very long time in which case you have wasted a lot of time and money. The biggest job in flushing these systems is removing the expansion valve so the evaporator coil can be flushed. The rest of the system is very easy to flush. If I wait till the compressor fails, then a complete and thorough flush is mandatory.

Anybody have any experience or opions on this subject?