HOWTO debug makefiles?

[Villalovos, John L]

I was wondering if there was some information out there on howto debug
makefiles.

I am currently working on a Makefile for a linux 2.6.x kernel module
that is being compiled outside the kernel space.

So the way this works is along the lines of:

# make
  Step 1:  Runs makefile which then runs a make inside the kernel and I
tell it about my directory.
  Step 2: The kernel make system then includes my makefile to set some
variables and then does the building.

I want to debug stuff at Step 2 but it is the same Makefile as Step 1.
Also I can NOT control how my Makefile is called by the kernel make
system.

So I was hoping there was a way to spit out variables and other things
from within the makefile.

Is there a way to echo out a variable even if I don't have a target
which is getting called in my Makefile?

I hope I am making sense in what I am asking here.

Thanks,
John