A coworker has a 2001 Civic EX Sedan A/T. Her A/C quit blowing cold. She took it in for a recharge. The added freon but also told her that her compressor was going bad. They said that if it locked up it would ruin the engine beyond repair. I know this is true for a timing belt but I don't know if it's true for the A/C compressor.

Anybody know if this is true or not.

 

No that's not true. The A/C belt will likely break and could mess up the other belts, but not the timing belt (it's inside the plastic cover). The engine will keep running.

After the compressor fails it gets more expensive to repair the A/C than just a new compressor because it the bad one will often put metal bits into the system. Other parts need to be replaced or cleaned to get rid of them.

It's hard to tell if a compressor is "going bad." Certainly if it makes strange noises it should be pre-emptively replaced. Pressure pulsations are normal with the scroll compressor used on the Civic. If the A/C tech is not familiar with that, it may seem that something is wrong with the compressor.

If you have to add refrigerant (it's not called "freon" any more, that was DuPont's trade name for the old ozone killing type), that means there's a leak. A leak can also let oil out. Keep adding refrigerant and not oil and the compressor will starve for oil and fail.