What does the gear select damper do?

[CrankyOldMan]

I'm almost done rebuilding my Frankenstein gearbox, and it occurred to me that I don't really understand what the damper on the gear select shaft does. I mean, I can piece together that it dampens something, but is it a NVH reduction device or does it actually do some work when changing gears? The Celica and Matrix gearboxes had them, but they were very different. I.e. one was somewhat-asymmetrical and the other was completely-asymmetrical, whereas the Yaris/xB has an almost-symmetrical damper.

If it's only there to provide resistance at the shifter--increased shift effort--then I may just run without it!

[CTScott]

Off of the tranny, what does that big ol' chunk of metal weigh?

[CrankyOldMan]

Just over 2 lbs.

[CTScott]

Just over 2 lbs.

Ah, not as heavy as I thought. I suspect that its purpose is to dampen vibration through the cable to the shifter, and possibly to assist with shifting as the momentum of it would help with fully engaging a position. The shape is probably just based on what's around it once the tranny is mounted in the engine bay.

[CrankyOldMan]

That's what I was thinking, but it helps to have someone else articulate it. I'm not worried about NVH, but there's the issue of dust protection for that end of the shifter: the bellows isn't sealed by the damper, but it looks like it keeps it in place (more or less).