Well meniscal tears are associated with the symptom of locking in which the knee joint suddenly locks at any angle during bending or straightening.
Did u experience this anytime?

Also when the leg is completely bent the pain is most severe, since this is the position when the menisci are under maximal pressure from the bones of the knee joint. So while lifting heavy weights you can get pain from a meniscal tear when there is grinding motion between the bones of the knee as in performing a sit up with heavy weights.

More details in this article on Torn Knee Cartilage

I do agree with panya.viraj that Quads will help you improve your pain as strengthening your thigh muscles helps to stabilize your knee motion and prevent unnecessary stress on the restraining ligaments and menisci.
But severe injuries will not benefit with this and will need a complete orthopedic evaluation.