I have a Kenwood vr-405, exact same problem. I have beaten the daylights out of the remote, I was convinced it was the remote. I have taken apart the remote numerous times. After reading this thread, I bragged I was going tho fix the problem, in front of the family, walked up to the unit and tapped on the bezel, the remote works fine. Everyone was impressed, tomorrow I will be inside the the box to solder the pins as described. Amazing that Kenwood is hiding its head in the sand on this one. I will never buy from them again. This has been a problem for almost 2 years. Thanks. I will post my success after the fix.