Confusing battery trouble after water spill. Not quite sure what the problem is but would rather not have to pay for diagnosis.

Question

Hello there!
So a few weeks ago now I made a schoolboy error and spilt a small amount of water over my 2009 macbook pro while it was closed.  It wouldn't wake up when I opened it so I decided to try and open it up, although it took me forever to find a screwdriver small enough to get the back off.  When I finally managed to take a look, there was a small amount of moisture on the battery.  I left it to dry for a day or so, although probably not as long as I should have done and then when I tried to boot it up again it worked!
However!
Since its been working again, the battery has permenantly said that it's 'not charging' although often it does seem to charge in spite of this.  I had thought / hoped that this might be fixable simply by replacing the battery, but I dont want to spend a load of money on a battery, should there be more to the problem than this.  Also I have noticed that the battery says 'replace soon', rather than 'replace now' which makes me wonder if the problem could in fact be something do with the logic board instead. 
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could do next?  Of course I would like to be able to fix it and have a normal working battery again, but failing that, some insight as to where the problem might lie would be extremely helpful.
Here is all the battery info, which doesnt really mean much to me, but may be of some use.  Many thanks to anyone who helps!
Battery Information:
  Model Information:
  Serial Number:          9G*****VNA
  Manufacturer:          DP
  Device name:          bq20z451
  Pack Lot Code:          0000
  PCB Lot Code:          0000
  Firmware Version:          0003
  Hardware Revision:          0002
  Cell Revision:          0100
  Charge Information:
  Charge remaining (mAh):          2185
  Fully charged:          No
  Charging:          No
  Full charge capacity (mAh):          3545
  Health Information:
  Cycle count:          1174
  Condition:          Replace Soon
  Battery Installed:          Yes
  Amperage (mA):          -1156
  Voltage (mV):          11241
System Power Settings:
  AC Power:
  System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          16
  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          180
  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          15
  Wake On AC Change:          No
  Wake On Clamshell Open:          Yes
  Wake On LAN:          Yes
  Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
  Battery Power:
  System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          16
  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          10
  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          16
  Wake On AC Change:          No
  Wake On Clamshell Open:          Yes
  Current Power Source:          Yes
  Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
  Reduce Brightness:          Yes
Hardware Configuration:
  UPS Installed:          No
AC Charger Information:
  Connected:          No
  Charging:          No
<Edited by Host>

Answer 1

Do you know how easy it would be to just take the battery out......
That depends on your MacBook Pro variant, which we don't yet know (don't know your OSX version either). Different variants and screen sizes have different battery specs. If you need to find out your model before replying, you can enter your serial number in this Apple web page:
Check Service & Support Coverage
And it will translate to a model. If that doesn't work (I'm having to give options here because I don;t know your OS version):
1) For Mac OSX 10.7 "Lion" and later, do "About this Mac" and, in the resulting window, press the "More Info..." button to get this:
The red arrow I added indicates your model and screen size.
2) For Mac OS 10.4 through 10.6, do the same except the "More Info..." button will bring up this screen:
Again my red arrow poiints to pertinent data. Please post that code BUT not any serial numbers. With these OS versions you need to provide the screen size separately, either 13, 15 or 17 inch.
Once you've gone to this trouble it is a very good idea to add it to your equipment line in your forum profile so helpers don't ahve to go through this again for future questions. See my equip line below for an example of enough info to get fast help.
Allan