Hall Effects Transducer aka Distributor Pickup

[pacdev@csn.net]

Help!

It's been 18 months since I've heard the purr of my TQC. During that period I've 
rebuilt the head, polished the crank, honed the cylinder walls, fitted new 
piston rings, added new oil pump, new bearings, etc. etc. Now it's time to 
re-start the little gem and I cna't get a spark. I have the Audi service manual 
for the TQC and have deligently followed the trouble shooting guide. Here's what 
I've found.

Voltage to ECU OK. Crank position sensor sends pulse to LED(i.e. flicker). 
Flywheel speed sensor sends pulse to LED(again flicker of LED). Voltage to Hall 
distributor 12volts. Pulse from Hall sender not there! Today I purchased a new 
Hall sender and decided to bench test it.

Took out distributor. Hooked up to distributor terminal block as follows

	
		 ___________________
                |                  |
                |   |     |     |  |
                |   |     |     |  |
                |   |     |     |  |
                |__________________|
                                    
                   (-)   (0)   (+)
                  /       |      \
                 /	  |       \
                /         |        \
            neg bat	  |       pos bat (12volts)
	       \          |
                \         |
             LED(-)      LED(+)

	The bench test failed to light up the LED! I thought that this would 
surely replicate what's happening in the car. Any words of wisdom from the Great 
Ones out there? If I can't even get the thing to light up in the bench I have 
very little confidence that it will send a signal to the ECU. Am I missing 
something here.

When I was PRO rallying we used a Hall sender to deliver a pulse for each wheel 
revolution o our eletronic odo. If I'm not mistaken we were able to get about 
five volts from the sender when the magnetic field wiped across the transducer. 
Doesn't the same apply for the distributor pickup?

Your kind attention to this vexing problem is certainly appreciated.