Has anyone ever had gauges that displayed a hotter coolant temp than the oil temp on a warmed up engine ? FWIW, I haven’t.
I would agree, in general. Much of this goes to the topics of variability as I mentioned previously.
Newer vehicles have liquid-to-liquid heat exchangers (coolant to oil). These not only help cool the oil down, but also speed up the warming cycle.
Older cars with air-to-liquid (air to oil) coolers don't get that same warm up, nor do ones with no cooler/warmer at all.
Then you get into the topic of surface area to oil galley ratios. Long inline cylinder blocks have more "exposed" wall surface (to the ambient air) then does a V-type engine; that makes for a longer warm up. Blah, blah, blah ...
The LEO Dodge 5.7L Hemi Chargers we drove had a display tool in the IP menu. The EOT was typically 5-8 degF hotter than ECT when both were fully warmed, but EOT took longer to get there after a cold start. So the EOT rose slower, but rose higher.
Further, the older Ford 6.0L PSD (my neighbor's) would indicate EOT higher than ECTs; he had a scan tool plugged into the OBDII port at all times. Even prior to the cooler getting worse (the infamous clogging issue), the EOT was probably 5-7 degF hotter than ECT. The large sump sizes of light-duty diesels (14 quarts IIRC in that engine) took far longer to warm up than a smaller gas-engine would take.
My point is that generalities are fine, but they really don't help any one person ascribe a proven cause relatable to the oil versus noise issue.
My previous post was merely meant to illuminate the fact that the first start immediately after the OCI is a condition where the oil and engine temps are widely different; a condition not experienced at any other time in the OCI duration. That likely leads to some portion of audible difference, and when combined with a mental placebo bias, it's likely exaggerated in one's mind.