Here's my current dilemma:

My van has developed an amazingly annoying high-pitched chattering/squeaking sound that I've been chasing for weeks. At first I thought it was the speedo cable but now I'm thinking that's probably not the case.

It only happens when the transmission is in drive and when I ease up on the gas. In other words, dead silence when I'm accelerating but when I take my foot off the pedal, the chatter immediately starts. Push down on the pedal again, even very slightly, and the noise goes away. It does not happen at all if the transmission is in any other gear, including coasting in neutral.

I also just realized yesterday that I can stop the noise by slightly holding my shift lever up, which leads me to believe it's coming from inside or around my steering column.

What the hell could be causing this racket???

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]