97 Mazda 626, MAF Sensor issues or something else???

Hi all, I was given a '97 Mazda 626, 2.0 (I think) with a Manual Transmission. The friend that owned it before me put more $$ into than she wanted, and ended up buying a new car. The clutch, fuel pump, and one converter and O2 sensor have been replaced. A complete tune up has also been done. Shortly after the last visit to the shop, she said the car started running rough. When I picked up the car, it started fine and drove OK until we stopped at a gas station to fill up. Once the car was started back up, it would seemingly die at intersections when accelerating from a stop. It never stalled, but when trying to accelerate, it seems that the more gas you give, the more it bogs down. (sorry I'm not a mechanic, I'm not sure of the terms I should use...) It eventually does go, but once it starts this you have to go easy on the gas or it will just stop moving momentarily. Doesn't do it much at highway speed, once in a while starts to hesitate and runs similar to what happens when plug wires go (only thing I can think of to compare it to...)

The engine light is on, and the girl who gave it to me said her mechanic said it was either a cat. converter or computer or ???? He wasn't sure and told her it wasn't worth looking into. I don't know what he did for diagnostics. The car has approximately 170K miles on it. My father has diagnostic hookup capabilities, but it seems that since I am a mechanics daughter, everyone elses car gets fixed first!!! :lol: I know he's busy, but when I asked a couple other mechanics about it, one said that it could be the MAF sensor and that it was actually almost a common issue. I have a couple questions...

Is there any way to tell if it is the MAF sensor without diagnostics or replacing the part?
Can the sensor be cleaned or unhooked to see if its an issue? Will it harm the car to try? (not that it runs the greatest anyhow!!)
Is this as common as I was led to believe and does it sound like it could be the problem??? :uhoh:

Thanks in advance for any help.
M

Nevermind...Dad must have took the car to work with him this morning...that or some poor dummy stole it. :lol: Anyhow...I guess we'll see what's up with it.

cool fine out the code he found and maybe i can help

He said it kicked out a code for the converter, and that it needed a tune up too. She had initally told me that she'd already replaced one converter before (and that she thought there was two???) Dad said there's not two and it's most likely plugged. I do know though, that she was running 87 in it instead of the recommended 91(?). Could that cause a problem with the O2 sensor or catalytic converter? He didn't actually hook it up until yesterday.
Thanks,
M

the type of gas shouldn't effect it. i alternate between reg and premium. i was having a problem with my pre-cat. it wasn't worth fixing so i reset my ecu and it hasn't shown up again for at least a year now. also my map sensor was messing up on me, i took it off and cleaned with some throttle body cleaner and that worked for me. i hope this helps. later