Once I vacuumed the leaves out of the A/C-heater blower wheel (located under passenger front foot kick panel) it worked fine. To track down how it got plugged up, I looked at the heavy grate on the outside of the car between the hood and the bottom of the windshield. That grate does not appear to be removable, but underneath it is a much finer-grained leaf guard. My leaf guard has been pushed down on the passenger end right where the intake for the blower is. The leaves are collecting there and being sucked into the blower intake.

I cannot see how to get into the air intake/leaf guard cavity to clean the leaf guard and to place and secure it where it needs to be. How does one get in there?

 

Have to remove the cowling: two bolts at the edges at the end of the fenders, one in the middle. Take the wipers off first, extend the hood up to vertical, careful not to scratch the cowling as you slide it back to clear the hood. Clean the leaves, reglue the screen. The tricky part is replacing the cowling as it has to engage all the tabs so that the molding fits flush to the windshield.

 

Thanks Lev. It's just as you said. I cleaned the bottom of the cowl grate bars and glued the leaf guard to the bars with RTV silicone adhesive sealant. It will not be coming off again.