What am I doing wrong with my Sandwich Plate?
 

Hello, first post here as I seek help on my 7 month long (so far) turbo install journey. At this point everything is done except for troubleshooting the oil leaks. I'd like to drive it 100 issue and leak free miles before taking it for a proper dyno tune, and so far that hasn't happened. The main one giving me trouble right now is for my oil cooler setup. I am using a Setrab Billet Sandwich Plate w/ T-stat.

The first time I noticed a leak, it was because it completely blew out the sandwich plate o-ring and dumped quarts of oil. Luckily shut it down in time. When removing the plate, the adapter thread thingy was loose.
The second time I found small drips, checked the plate, and could feel a broken o-ring piece sticking out. Again, plate was loose to the block.
And now, while figuring out another oil cooler related leak and a turbo feed line leak, the o-ring was broken again, and the plate was also pretty loose. I know I torqued it to 40Nm last time I put it on.

Should I be tightening it past 40Nm? Should I remove the factory "oil warmer" so it seals to the surface behind that instead? Some type of thread sealant? Please help, my patience is running out for replacing the same hoses and o-rings every month.
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You are not installing that o-ring dry, right?
Also, my torque spec on the big nut securing the sandwich plate is "good'n tight". Damn thing tries to spin off when you are loosening the oil filter if that nut is not tight enough.

Feels like Goldilocks experience, and that’s gonna be part of the learning process as you figure out mechanical empathy. My take is: first time, too loose, second time, too tight, causing the o-ring to buckle or crumple.

I have two, stacked sandwich plates. One’s a single generic ring, the other, a double walled, like yours pictured. In both cases, I take the ring out and grease the channel. Pop the o-ring in, and lightly grease the ring. When putting both on, it’ll prevent dry binding on both edges of the ring. You shouldn’t use any more pressure than what you’ve historically done with regular oil filters - maybe a tiny bit tighter, like a quarter to half turn.

Last thing to consider - the stainless lines aren’t very flexible. Be sure your routing isn’t putting any pressure on the fittings that might cause the sandwich plate to twist and back out. I wrapped mine for protection, then zip tied for some strain/vibration relief.

Just make it snug. Mine felt like 20ft/bs. Make sure its pre oiled before wrenching . Get a new o ring/seal and try again. easy fix.