A few years ago, my Vette developed an annoying rattle that appeared to be coming from the shifter.
I did not consider the possibility that the culprit was telegraphing the rattle somewhere other than the originating point, and after a fruitless search for the reason, I just gave up and decided to consult a few professional mechanics who, unfortunately, were as confused as I was.
One of them suggested the factory 4-speed shifter was probably going bad and most likely the cause of the rattling sound. So out came the old shifter and I got to spend $200+ buying a new one.
Once the "bad" original shifter was on the workbench (see photo), we inspected it and—after accumulating dirt for 40 years—it looked like it was ready to be replaced, even though my car at the time, only had approximately 44k original miles since rolling out of the Corvette Assembly Plant in St. Louis, MO.
Well, the 4-speed shifter had absolutely nothing to do with the rattle. The culprit was a missing $3.75 spring, ironically called the
Clutch Fork Rod Anti-Rattle Spring.