From what we can distinguish, the noise sems to be related to the oil pump itself (one of the main commonalities across all 370Zs).
I say this because we have experienced the noise with a variety of oil cooler kits over the past year or so (both custom and off the shelf). We have installed oil cooler kits both using -8 or -10 line sizes using regular SS Lines, Aeroquip Socketless or Aeroquip Starlite Race Line. We have heard the noise on kits using various Setrab cooler sizes as well.
I agree with you, if it was a malfunction or a defect, we would have seen a failure of some sort by now. Given the large number of oil cooler kits sold/installed by all respective manufacturers, and the relative consistency of the noise, I feel that the noise is OK.
We attempted diagnose the noise and started by isolating the lines from the any metal surfaces. At one point we were thinking that the noise was being transmitted thru the chassis. The noise did seem to dissipate slightly, but not completely. We HAVE noticed that some 370Z's do make the noise louder than others, even when installing identical oil cooler kits.
Just thought I would throw this out there... I would like to look into the noise more. But like you said, it happens to almost all 370Z's who install an oil cooler kit, so it has become accepted as normal.
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