sluggo

I had the car smogged today (passed) and noticed when the technician was moving it that the A/C compressor was getting pretty noisy. Lots of squeaking with the compressor engaged, and a lot less but still some when the compressor was off.

So is this a bad bearing in the compressor? Is there something I can do to prolong the life of this thing, or is it going to go in the next couple of months no matter what I do?

I'm still on the original refrigerant in my 92 SC400, so I'm assuming that if I do need to put in a rebuilt compressor that I'll also have to convert to the new coolant at the time. Is that correct?

thanks,
sluggo