"DC-DC boost converter module, operating frequency 150KHz, typical conversion efficiency of 85%."
This reference to 150KhZ doesn't mean what you think it does. This is a boost power converter that uses PWM operating at 150kHz to boost a low voltage power supply to a higher voltage for powering electrical circuits. It is not a signal level amplifier.
In any circuit, current draw through a wire causes a voltage drop. So in the Arduino was at one end of such a wire and a sensor on the other end, the sensor voltage would be in error by the voltage drop through the wire.
If you use a "star" grounding scheme (ie all commons connected as one single point) you will be find. Else you must accommodate voltage drops.
Well I finally got it working! Turns out the sensor was fine, I just ended up using a transistor to up the voltage.
After going down the rabbit hole of hall effect automotive sensors yall had me convinced my sensor was bad 
, so when I found a deal on a new sensor for $30 I jumped on it (usually $200). The new sensor behaved the exact same way the old one did though which told me the sensor was never the issue.
I ended up wiring up a NPN power transistor (TIP31C) with the ESS sending a signal to the base, and the arduino reading on the collector. Sounds easy enough but it took me a while to figure out how to make this work. For example I kept trying to wire it as common collector before I finally realized this would never up my voltage like I wanted it to, I'd always read lower voltage than what was on the base not higher. It was ultimately worth the learning experience, I feel much more capable of integrating more transistors in the future.
Ultimately I got my 5V pulse I needed and seems to be working great! This is basically the same method I was trying to do originally, but now with a circuit more suited to the job than that voltage booster I was trying to use.
Thank you everyone for your input. I now have an arduino powered tachometer, and an arduino powered electronic display in my car.
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