I ran my the motor down about a quart of oil.
I also replaced my timing belt about a two months ago.
It lately has a knock in the motor as if it was a deisel.

Reading the forum I have read it can be my timing belt tensioner, spun bearing in the motor or clogged ports in the oil pump.

Does anyone have a solution to how I can find out what it is?

I was also told to drain my oil and run deisel instead through the motor for about 5 to 10 min. to clean out any clogged ports or to loosen any stuck parts by a mechanic. Any comments on this?

Please help
1996 Trooper 3.2V V6

Try MOA oil additive made by BG products, works great, nothing completely quiets these great engines but it helps.

Hi, the factory recommends Mobil 1 0-30 sae wt oil for the purpose of cleaning and quieting hydraulic lifters and passages in the 3.2. I have also heard that the pusher, tensioner can create a sound that harmonically sounds like a pecking or clicking.
As far as oil a qt low, that should not be a problem, unless for some reason it was a sudden drop or you did not run it an extended time with oil that low or not changed.
How was the oil pressure before and after the noise started. A spun bearing MAY cause a noticeable drop in oil pressure.
good luck, let us know what you find!

I ran my the motor down about a quart of oil.
I also replaced my timing belt about a two months ago.
It lately has a knock in the motor as if it was a deisel.

Reading the forum I have read it can be my timing belt tensioner, spun bearing in the motor or clogged ports in the oil pump.

Does anyone have a solution to how I can find out what it is?

how LOUD is it?
a determining diagnosis factor on what it is likely to be is the level and nature of the noise. if you know the 'normal' valve tick and it's just a little louder than that and consistent in when it appears, then it probably is the valve tappets acting up a little, and really, not to worry.

if it's much LOUDER (like you even are afraid it might be a thrown rod) than it is probably the timing belt tensioner.

didn't you replace the tensioner when you did your timing belt? did you use dealer oem parts? if you replaced it with the good stuff, then i'd kind of doubt that is your problem now, but...

as to the other possible causes, i'd just say they are possible, but unlikely, without further evidence.

tell us more about the noise, how loud it is, when it occurs, when it doesn't occur (does it go away at higher rpms for example), etc

sounds like you've done some research on this, so it comes down to the nature of the noise. . .and if you didn't do the tensioner, than that would be a prime candidate from this distance (btw, you usually want to do the water pump at the same time because of the labor factor).

//bc

You might try physically locating the source of the sound, e.g. carefully putting your ear to different areas of the engine bay, or even get a piece of an old hose and stick it down where you think its coming from. Some old guy showed me that one time, figured out that my ticking was coming from the passenger side exhaust manifold area. At least can help you figure out whether or not its the tensioner, which would be at the front.