Supplemental Guarantor Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements - Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	$ 2,574	$ 2,292
Affiliated companies	0	0
Net sales and operating revenues	2,574	2,292
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	2,198	1,929
Engineering, research, and development	41	39
Selling, general, and administrative	153	141
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	59	52
Total costs and expenses	2,451	2,161
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	(3)	(1)
Other income (expense)	(3)	(9)
Total other income (expense)	(6)	(10)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	117	121
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	20	15
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	97	106
Income tax (benefit) expense	25	33
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	0	0
Net income	72	73
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	14	14
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	58	59
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	80	87
Reclass and Elims
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	0	0
Affiliated companies	(279)	(326)
Net sales and operating revenues	(279)	(326)
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	(279)	(326)
Engineering, research, and development	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	0	0
Total costs and expenses	(279)	(326)
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	0	0
Other income (expense)	0	0
Total other income (expense)	0	0
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	0	0
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	0	0
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	(116)	(104)
Net income	(116)	(104)
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	(116)	(104)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	(116)	(104)
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	1,032	1,018
Affiliated companies	123	144
Net sales and operating revenues	1,155	1,162
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	1,008	992
Engineering, research, and development	18	20
Selling, general, and administrative	74	68
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	22	21
Total costs and expenses	1,122	1,101
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	(2)	0
Other income (expense)	(12)	(17)
Total other income (expense)	(14)	(17)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	19	44
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	8	(1)
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	(3)	(3)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	14	48
Income tax (benefit) expense	1	8
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	45	27
Net income	58	67
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	58	67
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	58	67
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	1,542	1,274
Affiliated companies	156	182
Net sales and operating revenues	1,698	1,456
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	1,469	1,263
Engineering, research, and development	23	19
Selling, general, and administrative	79	73
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	37	31
Total costs and expenses	1,608	1,386
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	(1)	(1)
Other income (expense)	9	8
Total other income (expense)	8	7
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	98	77
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	2	0
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	0	1
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	96	76
Income tax (benefit) expense	24	25
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies		0
Net income	72	51
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	14	14
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	58	37
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	58	37
Tenneco Inc
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	0	0
Affiliated companies	0
Net sales and operating revenues	0	0
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	0	0
Engineering, research, and development	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	0	0
Total costs and expenses	0	0
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	0	0
Other income (expense)	0	0
Total other income (expense)	0	0
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	10	16
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	3	2
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	(13)	(18)
Income tax (benefit) expense	0	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	71	77
Net income	58	59
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	58	59
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ 80	$ 87