Supplemental Guarantor Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements - Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Revenues
External	$ 4,319			$ 2,371	$ 13,307	$ 7,485
Affiliated companies	0			0	0	0
Net sales and operating revenues	4,319			2,371	13,307	7,485
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales	3,653			2,002	11,310	6,329
Selling, general, and administrative	249			138	853	443
Depreciation and amortization	165			60	503	180
Engineering, research, and development	78			39	248	118
Restructuring charges, asset impairments, and other	43			16	128	57
Impairment	9	$ 0	$ 60	0	69	0
Costs and expenses	4,197			2,255	13,111	7,127
Other expense (income)
Non-service postretirement benefit costs	2			4	8	10
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax	(1)			0	(34)	0
Other (income) expense, net	(27)			0	(43)	3
Total other expense (income)	(26)			4	(69)	13
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	148			112	265	345
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized	79			24	242	69
Affiliated companies, net of interest income	0			0	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests	69			88	23	276
Income tax expense (benefit)	(9)			22	5	73
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	0			0	0	0
Net income (loss)	78			66	18	203
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	8			9	39	39
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	70			57	(21)	164
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	(2)			33	(81)	74
Reclass and Elims
Revenues
External	0			0	0	0
Affiliated companies	(520)			(297)	(1,537)	(866)
Net sales and operating revenues	(520)			(297)	(1,537)	(866)
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales	(520)			(297)	(1,537)	(866)
Selling, general, and administrative	0			0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0			0	0	0
Engineering, research, and development	0			0	0	0
Restructuring charges, asset impairments, and other	0			0	0	0
Impairment	0				0
Costs and expenses	(520)			(297)	(1,537)	(866)
Other expense (income)
Non-service postretirement benefit costs	0			0	0	0
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax	0				0
Other (income) expense, net	0			6	0	16
Total other expense (income)	0			6	0	16
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	0			(6)	0	(16)
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized	0			0	0	0
Affiliated companies, net of interest income	0			0	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests	0			(6)	0	(16)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0			0	0	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	(258)			(109)	(350)	(327)
Net income (loss)	(258)			(115)	(350)	(343)
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	0			0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	(258)			(115)	(350)	(343)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	(140)			(115)	(251)	(343)
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Revenues
External	1,603			990	4,984	3,050
Affiliated companies	241			145	694	402
Net sales and operating revenues	1,844			1,135	5,678	3,452
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales	1,558			960	4,852	2,951
Selling, general, and administrative	172			113	498	268
Depreciation and amortization	54			24	218	71
Engineering, research, and development	33			20	102	57
Restructuring charges, asset impairments, and other	13			2	64	5
Impairment	9				42
Costs and expenses	1,839			1,119	5,776	3,352
Other expense (income)
Non-service postretirement benefit costs	0			3	(1)	9
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax	(1)				(3)
Other (income) expense, net	(33)			(35)	(10)	(11)
Total other expense (income)	(34)			(32)	(14)	(2)
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	39			48	(84)	102
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized	25			10	30	30
Affiliated companies, net of interest income	(6)			(5)	(20)	(12)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests	20			43	(94)	84
Income tax expense (benefit)	5			12	(13)	11
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	124			37	196	122
Net income (loss)	139			68	115	195
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	0			0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	139			68	115	195
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	135			68	118	195
Nonguarantor Subsidiaries
Revenues
External	2,716			1,381	8,323	4,435
Affiliated companies	279			152	843	464
Net sales and operating revenues	2,995			1,533	9,166	4,899
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales	2,615			1,339	7,995	4,244
Selling, general, and administrative	76			25	354	175
Depreciation and amortization	110			36	284	109
Engineering, research, and development	45			19	146	61
Restructuring charges, asset impairments, and other	30			14	64	52
Impairment	0				27
Costs and expenses	2,876			1,433	8,870	4,641
Other expense (income)
Non-service postretirement benefit costs	2			1	9	1
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax	0				(31)
Other (income) expense, net	6			29	(33)	(2)
Total other expense (income)	8			30	(55)	(1)
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	111			70	351	259
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized	0			4	17	10
Affiliated companies, net of interest income	(13)			0	6	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests	124			66	328	249
Income tax expense (benefit)	(3)			10	54	62
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	0			0	0	0
Net income (loss)	127			56	274	187
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	8			9	39	39
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	119			47	235	148
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	5			47	133	148
Tenneco Inc
Revenues
External	0			0	0	0
Affiliated companies	0			0	0	0
Net sales and operating revenues	0			0	0	0
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales	0			0	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative	1			0	1	0
Depreciation and amortization	1			0	1	0
Engineering, research, and development	0			0	0	0
Restructuring charges, asset impairments, and other	0			0	0	0
Impairment	0				0
Costs and expenses	2			0	2	0
Other expense (income)
Non-service postretirement benefit costs	0			0	0	0
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax	0				0
Other (income) expense, net	0			0	0	0
Total other expense (income)	0			0	0	0
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	(2)			0	(2)	0
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized	54			10	195	29
Affiliated companies, net of interest income	19			5	14	12
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests	(75)			(15)	(211)	(41)
Income tax expense (benefit)	(11)			0	(36)	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	134			72	154	205
Net income (loss)	70			57	(21)	164
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	0			0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	70			57	(21)	164
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ (2)			$ 33	$ (81)	$ 74