Maytag originally made a guide to place over the end of the drive shaft that had a spiral that threaded up the helix to make the end of the shaft completely smooth so it would pass by the O-ring easily. If you're careful it can be done without it. Start the shaft down the tube while turning slowly clockwise. When the helix reaches the O-ring it should start to thread its self into the helix. Keep turning the shaft and you should see it slowly pulling its self down pasting the O-ring. When it gets to the top of the helix it will stop moving downward. At this point I grabbed the pinion while slowly turning clockwise and applied a steadily increasing downward pressure. If all go’s well the O-ring will give way and compress itself into the groove and create a tight seal between the drive tube and shaft. Then the shaft should push straight down and the lugs on the washer should engage with the slots in the bottom half of the transmission case.
I turned the pinion around 180 degrees so the non-worn side would face the segment gear. This is why I was spending the time to center the segment gear. Now the non-worn side will mesh with the segment.