you may be able to just pop out the lower half of the panel to gain a bit of access inside to inspect wiring, but may end up creasing the panel if not careful. so really, i'd remove it fully.

 

not to send any bad juju your way but i had to re-run the wire from my speaker through the door and splice because the wire actually broke inside the rubber conduit between the door and the body. pain in the @$$. moving on, the door panels are very painless to remove. i have a 2000. to remove i remove the phillips screws from the armrest, there are 3. there is also a small phillips screw in the center of the interior door handle that holds the plastic surround on. remove the screw and the surround. use a flathead screwdriver or a panel tool and gently pry the bottom of the panel enough to get your fingers in. next gently work from the bottom up the sides and pop the plastic panel rivets. once loose gently lift the panel up a little to free it from the lip it hangs on. while holding the panel with one hand reach down and unhook the connectors from the power lock and window switch. then, unclick the plastic clips from the door handle linkage. then remove the panel.

 

I had the door panels off on my 97 two weeks ago and there were retainer clips holding the cranks on.

 

Thanks bud

Does it pull straight out or do I have to slid it the way the picture shows?

 

What type of screw do you use for the inner door panel? Mine is missing a screw. Thanks