anything I absolutely need to make sure it stays alive
Never crank it up without checking the oil level first. Never run it with oil that looks anything less than new. Never leave the same gas in the tank more than 6 months, and run it dry once in a while as opposed to just nearly empty. Ad doesn't say the low oil sensor was removed, but act like it was anyway, treat even a single drip of oil as a possible disaster. If the oil level leaks down between level checks, there goes the motor if there's no low oil sensor.
