Since yesterday only yielded the knowledge that "something is wrong!!!" I decided to continue the disassembly and moved over to take the drive side apart.
Ignoring the obvious winter style corrosion on the cog, I removed the shifter cassette,
and got really frightened when I found I could remove both axle nuts with my bare hands. That should never happen! After a couple of deep breaths into a paper sack, I removed the cog.
and finally the drive side seal. I found that I was wrong, the bearings were not mounted into the seal itself, but the ball retainer ring was embedded in the grease there.
Both the ball retainer and the ring gear stop ring were broken. In technical terms this means that springy cliplike wiry thing broke and ball bearings were wandering unsupervised in the black box. But why? I'm afraid I will have to totally disassemble the unit now to find out what the mystery is, and make sure the damn thing works again.
The whole thing is going into a degreaser bath for a couple of days while I plot my next move (enjoy the sunshine and ride my other bikes).
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