Ford: wont start. fuel pump??, one of the lucky ones, tracer wagon

Question
Hi and thanks for you're input. I own a '89 merc. tracer wagon w/a 1.6 liter 4cyl. Allof a sudden it won't start. lately I've been having to add lots of water to the battery and the other day the battery, which is fairly new, for  the first time, was low on juice. I charged it and the engine turns over plenty good but the engine won't start. I checked the distributor and it turns also the coil has spark coming from it. Don't know what else to check. I thought maybe the fuel pump could have gone bad but I understand it's on top of the gas tank. Is there a way I can check the pump without pulling the tank off? Is it hard to remove the tank?Any special things I need to do if I remove it like drain the gas out first? I've been told there is a fuel shut off switch but I've never seen one. This car has about 120k on the engine.I replaced the alternator about 5k miles ago and also I should mention the instrument lights rarely work and most of the time they don't and I pulled the fuse for the radio because it wouldn't shut off. Also have an idiot light that comes on when I step on the brakes but all the rear lights work like they're supposed to. Could it be a short somewhere that caused an elec. component to fail? Maybe related to the no start problem? I just don't know but I'm plenty frustrated.I hope you can help me and God Bless You.Dennis Mitchell

Answer
ok first thing i would do is spray some ether or carb. cleaner in the air intake to see if the car startes  if it starts then you have a fuel problem .if not let me know and we will go another way. now you might be one of the lucky ones and only have to remove the back seat to get to your fuel tank.do that if you see a silver cover then all you have to do is removed these screws unplug the conector and your on your way.if not the tank has to come down . good luck