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Update It was the Mass Airflow Sensor. I believe you hit the nail on the head Fairtax4me about it being broken solder connections inside the housing. Never did give me a fault code though. Picked up a MAF off Ebay for $17 ( out of curiosity I asked a suby dealer how much ... $823!!! ). No problems since I replaced it. Thanks to everyone who contributed

Call Mulder and Sculley. Looks like an x-file to me.

Thanks for joining in with your suggestions but I no longer have an air pocket in the heater core or anywhere else .. the gurgle is gone (read my update a few posts back). I did actually read of the vacuum method to suck the coolant into the block, also had what I thought was a good idea of taking the radiator bleed plug out then attaching a pressure tester to the radiator fill point and forcing the air out along with a lot of coolant but never got around to this. I actually gave up and was learning to live with the sound until my mechanic told me to just reverse the heater hoses where they go into the block. Did this and it worked.

No, haven't put the hoses back and they were properly connected before the swap. Temp gauge is fine and blowing great heat. Not sure about the theory but reversing the flow into the core certainly fixed the problem for me. Thanks for asking.

OK, so here's an update. A few days ago, I take the car in to have the timing belt done, plugs, leads and fuel filter. So that gets done and on picking up the car I make a casual remark about the water gurgle about how I have been having a hell of a time trying to burp the air out of the heater core. He says "oh yeah, I did hear that when I took it for a drive, you know what you should do ... swap the two hoses around where they connect to the engine and then have another go at burping it again." I thought can't hurt to try, so next day when the ball and chain goes to visit her sister, I'm out there like a flash spill free funnel and screwdriver in hand. Unscrew the clamps on both hoses and swap them over. Was quick to do and I didn't lose much coolant. Spill free funnel on, coolant in, start car and wait for t.stat to open. All went well and the result ....GURGLE GONE. I'm beating my chest and swinging through the trees again. Happy Ending. P.S. The mechanic mentioned that he tried this method on other cars and it worked so it isn't a subaru specific fix. Hope this helps others.

Update: Have the car back from the shop, new plugs, leads, fuel filter and timing belt done. Code was found which indicated the MAF sensor faulty. However, still unsure about this as I expect it would have thrown a code since I did unplug the MAF and run the engine. I realized later after picking up the car I should have mentioned this to the mechanic .. I forgot. Engine hasn't died since but there has been the odd moment of hesitation from the engine whilst driving. Looks as though I will be replacing the MAF sensor. Mechanic is looking around and will price a used one for me. Not too sure about that. As for the battery, had it checked out and it didn't have enough crank power left in it to turn the starter over so replaced it. Alternator checked out OK.

Thanks. :)All information on this has been very helpful. Will be changing the plugs, leads and fuel filter when the items arrive.

I did unplug the MAF as you suggested and whilst the engine idled OK as soon as I increased the revs the engine would nearly stall so did not bother to even try to drive it any distance. By the way the engine did die this time on a short drive and also lost power a couple of times but came back up before stalling. Another annoying problem has developed the last two mornings. Have to jump start the car, Turns over but battery goes dead after a few seconds. Funny thing is the multimeter shows the battery to have a full charge prior to turning the key. I'll get that checked out too.

Absolutely awesome information. Thanks Although from what you describe, you would think the problem would occur even on my short drives around town (10-12 miles at a time) which it never has. It's only been happening after a long drive and then getting caught up in traffic. I'll see if the mechanic can pick up a code when I give him the car next week.

Thanks for replying. Interestingly, I found this when searching the net for this same problem and look what came up:- We own a 1994 Subaru Legacy 250T station wagon. Over the past few weeks while driving along the engine cuts out. All the lights on the dashboard come on, and the power light flashes. You can then put the car in neutral or park and turn the engine on and it restarts without any problems. We have taken the car to our local mechanic and he ran the computer diagnostic on the car, but of course while the mechanic had the car the problem did not occur and he could not find any problems with the car.*** We have checked all the connections to the battery and any other electrical connections but cannot find anything loose. Have you any idea what may be causing this problem? Reply Hi, we contacted the Anything Electronic Co. and they advised that the problem could be a fault with the Airflow Meter. We took the car to the Subaru dealer and they put it on the analyser and it did report a possible problem with the airflow meter. We replaced the Airflow meter with a new part and have not had any problems since. So you may be right about the MAF sensor. Before I replace it, I have booked the car in to get a timing belt change done and will ask the mechanic to offer his advice and check it out. I also have new plugs, leads and fuel filter on the way from Amazon. Thanks again for your help.

Thanks Nipper. I have ordered a fuel filter, iridium plugs and leads from Amazon. Also because I have only had the car a few weeks and unsure when the timing belt was last done, I have booked it in. Getting the full treatment, belt, pumps, seals and idlers. Will be asking the mechanic to give his thoughts on my problem and check a few things.

Thanks for your reply. The engine has died whilst idling at traffic lights and also while I'm speeding up. Engine only dies while travelling at low speeds.

Still waiting to receive new plugs, fuel filter and plug leads from Amazon ( i live in Australia). Meanwhile the engine cutting out just happened again. After a long drive I stopped for a few minutes to pick up a few groceries before heading home. Got in the car and within 30 seconds engine died, put the car in neutral whilst still moving and it started right up. A couple of miles later the engine nearly stalled and perked up but died later as I entered my driveway. I did have plenty of fuel in the tank. This problem only seems to occur after a long drive. I have checked my sensor connections but will wait and see what happens after I put in new plugs, etc.