Had a lot of noise when Hvac fan was running on my 2009 S40. Removed the plastic cover where the air intake is (below hood, ahead of firewall), cleaned the blower well - unbelievable, found foam that broke off from various pieces around the engine area, and apparently one paper towel - I've absolutely not used paper towels in engine or that area, so no clue who that got there, but no noise any more, great, one problem fixed.
However, I'm noticing that when I turn off recycle air, the wheel that either opens or blocks outside air does not rotate. It only rotates if it's "open" and I set it to close.
Is there a reason why it's not opening or something is broken? I thought maybe it's not opening b/c hood is up, but I highly doubt it has a sensor for that. Thanks!


You can see that opening for air intake is closed (this is a rotating wheel that is either solid (as in picture, closed) or has a mesh to let air in

 

solved