Summary of Accounting Policies - Error Correction, Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Net sales and operating revenues	$ 4,319	$ 2,371	$ 13,307	$ 7,485
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
Costs and expenses	4,197	2,255	13,111	7,127
Loss on sale of receivables		0		0
Non-service pension and other postretirement benefit costs (credits)	2	4	8	10
Other expense (income), 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	79	24	242	69
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests	69	88	23	276
Income tax expense (benefit)	(9)	22	5	73
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
Basic earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.87	$ 1.11	$ (0.25)	$ 3.20
Diluted earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.87	$ 1.11	$ (0.25)	$ 3.20
As Reported
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Net sales and operating revenues		$ 2,372		$ 7,483
Cost of sales		2,014		6,371
Selling, general, and administrative		141		450
Depreciation and amortization		65		183
Engineering, research, and development		39		122
Restructuring charges, asset impairments, and other		0		0
Costs and expenses		2,259		7,126
Loss on sale of receivables		3		8
Non-service pension and other postretirement benefit costs (credits)		0		0
Other expense (income), net		6		15
Total other expense (income)		9		23
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests		104		334
Interest expense		21		61
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests		83		273
Income tax expense (benefit)		20		72
Net income (loss)		63		201
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests		9		39
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.		$ 54		$ 162
Basic earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 1.05		$ 3.17
Diluted earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 1.05		$ 3.16
Reclasses
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Net sales and operating revenues		$ 0		$ 0
Cost of sales		(12)		(44)
Selling, general, and administrative		(4)		(8)
Depreciation and amortization		0		0
Engineering, research, and development		0		(5)
Restructuring charges, asset impairments, and other		16		57
Costs and expenses		0		0
Loss on sale of receivables		(3)		(8)
Non-service pension and other postretirement benefit costs (credits)		4		10
Other expense (income), net		(4)		(10)
Total other expense (income)		(3)		(8)
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests		3		8
Interest expense		3		8
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests		0		0
Income tax expense (benefit)		0		0
Net income (loss)		0		0
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests		0		0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.		$ 0		$ 0
Basic earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 0		$ 0
Diluted earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 0		$ 0
As Reclassified
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Net sales and operating revenues		$ 2,372		$ 7,483
Cost of sales		2,002		6,327
Selling, general, and administrative		137		442
Depreciation and amortization		65		183
Engineering, research, and development		39		117
Restructuring charges, asset impairments, and other		16		57
Costs and expenses		2,259		7,126
Loss on sale of receivables		0		0
Non-service pension and other postretirement benefit costs (credits)		4		10
Other expense (income), net		2		5
Total other expense (income)		6		15
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests		107		342
Interest expense		24		69
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests		83		273
Income tax expense (benefit)		20		72
Net income (loss)		63		201
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests		9		39
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.		$ 54		$ 162
Basic earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 1.05		$ 3.17
Diluted earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 1.05		$ 3.16
Revisions
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Net sales and operating revenues		$ (1)		$ 2
Cost of sales		0		2
Selling, general, and administrative		1		1
Depreciation and amortization		(5)		(3)
Engineering, research, and development		0		1
Restructuring charges, asset impairments, and other		0		0
Costs and expenses		(4)		1
Loss on sale of receivables		0		0
Non-service pension and other postretirement benefit costs (credits)		0		0
Other expense (income), net		(2)		(2)
Total other expense (income)		(2)		(2)
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests		5		3
Interest expense		0		0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interests		5		3
Income tax expense (benefit)		2		1
Net income (loss)		3		2
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests		0		0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.		$ 3		$ 2
Basic earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 0.06		$ 0.03
Diluted earnings (loss) per share of common stock (in dollars per share)		$ 0.06		$ 0.04