Context. Transient short-period (<100 s) oscillations have been found in the X-ray light curves of three novae during their super-soft source (SSS) phase and in one persistent SSS. Aims: We pursue an observational approach to determine possible driving mechanisms and relations to fundamental system parameters such as the white dwarf mass. Methods: We performed a systematic search for short-period oscillations in all available XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray light curves of persistent SSS and novae during their SSS phase. To study time evolution, we divided each light curve into short time-segments and computed power spectra. We then constructed a dynamic power spectrum from which we identified transient periodic signals even when only present for a short time. We base our confidence levels on simulations of false-alarm probability for the chosen oversampling rate of 16, corrected for multiple testing based on the number of time segments. From all time segments of each system, we computed fractions of time when periodic signals were detected. Results: In addition to the previously known systems with short-period oscillations, RS Oph (35 s),
