I believe there is always ATF in the shift cable, but normally you just don't realize it because it is fully sealed. That is what I was told by my friend at the transmission shop, and my experience with him is that he really knows his stuff.
I see, the reason I asked is that I had to replace the shift cable on my 727 cuss I burned of the outer plastic coating (go figure) and since it was a B+M shifter I just went and got a new cable. I'm pretty sure there was no oil in it originally. Or are we talking about the old shift down cable that goes from the carb to the tranny. Cuss if that's the case you can go to Lokar and probably rig up one of their shift down cables.