OK - just to be sure we're talking about the same thing - I'm talking about a black plastic disk, which I believe is the top of the impeller - it's got a 6-sided raised ring that surrounds the bolt I'm trying to remove? I'm attaching a pic (can't remember if I'd shown you this before).

Thanks for all your help.

You do not need to smash the impeller.

If you have someone that can work with you, then you can undo the little bolt. Take off the steel cover from the motor at the bottom, i.e. on outside of the dishwasher. It is only 4 bolts. This then exposes the cooling fins of the motor. Your assistant can wedge a screwdriver into the fins from one side to the other. You can then work on the little bolt from inside the dishwasher. It will be tight, no doubt, so you may have to jiggle the bolt clockwise and anticlockwise alternatively. You should feel the bolt start to loosen off. Once if does, you can extract it. It is longer than you would think!

Once it is off, you can dislodge the plastic impeller with a screwdriver and remove the whole assembly, if you wish. Whilst the motor is out of the unit, run the bolt in and out of the central shaft a couple of times with vaseline. This will make it easier to re-install and easier to remove again, should you need to.

Worked for me; hope it does for you.

I dont know what dishwasher you are refuring to but its not mine!

The Hex built into the top of plastic impeller could be held steady with a socket and a strap wrench to loosen fastening screw, then impeller removed by lifting up, if possable! If not then you will have to crack it, then remove, that has allready been covered earler in this post.

Thanks for providing the info to the DIY'ers!!

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Definitely, a cordless impact driver with a 6 point 1/4" bit is the ticket to removing the impeller bolt. Gently grip the large hex on the top of the impeller with a pair of slip joint pliers and brrrratttt the screw comes up (counter clockwise). Then using the pliers pull the wash impeller straight up. It should slide fairly easy. The tougher part after removing the strainer assembly is removing the drain impeller. This also slides on (not screwed) to the motor shaft but corrosion inevitably builds on the shaft and prevents easy sliding. Don't try to pry it up as it could cause damage to the pump base below. This is where the chisel method as described above works great. If yours is like mine, about 10 years old, the plastic should crumble pretty effortlessly. On reassembly be a bit meticulous on removing the shaft seal that is just below the drain impeller as it will probably rip apart into it's individual pieces, ripped rubber boot, spring and washer base.
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I recently experienced this when the pump started to whine like something was stuck in it. I noticed after taking off the spray arm assembly that the nylon mesh filters on the drain filter assembly were coming apart so lord knows what junk got through into the pump. I ordered parts (impeller repair kit and drain filter assembly) and unfortunately the filter assembly was back ordered. Without getting any notification from the vendor I was in a pickle on Friday when only one of the parts (impeller kit) arrived and I had to fix the dishwasher that weekend before I went away on business the next week. You can imagine what my wife had to say.

So I improvised on a temporary repair of the filter assembly with a hot glue gun! The nylon screens that make up the filters on the part can be repaired with hot glue. The part must be dried off (with time or accelerated with a hair dryer) then with a fully hot, hot glue gun squeeze a glue stream by moving the tip forward (leaving glue behind.) This allows the glue to penetrate the mesh and create a bond with the filter frame. I even did this in successive steps with a mesh window whose corner was ripped and hanging halfway down in the frame. Needless to say I'll look forward to the new part arriving next week.