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So this was a pretty easy fix, but I thought I would share this with everyone in case the same issue comes up.

I was coming back from hanging out with friends when my car instantly died on the highway and would not start. I checked under the hood for the obvious signs of something bad and nothing stuck out. I jumped back in the car and it started right up. I took the next exit and before I got the the next street, the car died suddenly again.

The diagnosis after a tow was a no spark situation. So I tore into the coil pack area and replaced the transistor with a spare I had. While pulling these parts I found something curious. There was a considerable amount of corrosion on both the transistor terminals and one spark plug wire at the coil. This stuff was ugly green and chalky like you might find on battery terminals. I don't know if the replaced transistor was actually bad, but the corrosion may have caused these parts to fail. In any case, the corrosion caused an instant fail of my ignition to the point of not starting or running.

As a note of warning, others may want to check these areas for similar issues. These areas are fairly accessible and should be easy to check. I wouldn't want anyone else to get stranded on the side of the highway as I did.

Does anyone have any clue as to why this corrosion may have occurred? I'd like to fix the situation (if there is one) so that other parts do not show the same signs and possibly fail and leave me stranded.

Disconnect the power, pour cola (soda) on it, then rinse with water, then go to autozone and buy the "anticorrosion" spray they have in the battery section and spray it down. Voila, no more corrosion.

The anticorrosion spray I've used before was more like spray paint and just covered the outer surface to keep corrosion from "growing" on things. I simply cleaned out the connection, used some sand paper to remove stuck on corrosion and then some dielectric grease inside.

However, I fear there is an issue somewhere in the wiring, as I noticed that my reverse switch in the transmission rusted off at some point. I have since replaced it, but that shouldn't be a common thing to happen, especially in a car with no rust whatsoever. Perhaps I need a better grounding system or something.

Good tip Jeff. I'm looking to make mine as reliable as it was new. I think I've covered most everything but hadn't paid a great deal of attention to the fore mentioned area. Check grounds from engine, trannie and radiator. They often get overlooked or forgotten then mysterious shit starts happening in your electrical system..