Supplemental Guarantor Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements - Statement of Comprehensive Income Loss (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Net sales and operating revenues:
External									$ 17,450	$ 11,763	$ 9,274
Affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net sales and operating revenues	$ 4,143	$ 4,319	$ 4,504	$ 4,484	$ 4,278	$ 2,371	$ 2,533	$ 2,581	17,450	11,763	9,274
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)	3,581	3,660	3,801	3,870	3,673	2,002	2,134	2,193	14,912	10,002	7,771
Selling, general, and administrative									1,138	752	632
Depreciation and amortization									673	345	226
Engineering, research, and development									324	200	158
Restructuring charges and asset impairments									126	117	47
Goodwill and intangible impairment charge									241	3	11
Costs and expenses									17,414	11,419	8,845
Other income (expense)
Non-service pension and postretirement benefit (costs) credits									(11)	(20)	(16)
Loss on extinguishment of debt									0	(10)	(1)
Equity in earnings (losses) of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									43	18	(1)
Other income (expense), net									53	(10)	2
Total other expense (income)									85	(22)	(16)
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	(144)	148	141	(24)	(23)	112	111	122	121	322	413
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized									(322)	(148)	(77)
Affiliated companies, net of interest income									0	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									(201)	174	336
Income tax (expense) benefit									(19)	(63)	(71)
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net income (loss)									(220)	111	265
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									114	56	67
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ (313)	$ 70	$ 26	$ (117)	$ (109)	$ 57	$ 47	$ 60	(334)	55	198
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									(353)	(99)	319
Reclass & Elims
Net sales and operating revenues:
External									0	0	0
Affiliated companies									(1,984)	(1,331)	(1,180)
Net sales and operating revenues									(1,984)	(1,331)	(1,180)
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)									(1,984)	(1,331)	(1,180)
Selling, general, and administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Engineering, research, and development									0	0	0
Restructuring charges and asset impairments									0	0	0
Goodwill and intangible impairment charge									0	0	0
Costs and expenses									(1,984)	(1,331)	(1,180)
Other income (expense)
Non-service pension and postretirement benefit (costs) credits									0	0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt										0	0
Equity in earnings (losses) of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									0	0	0
Other income (expense), net									0	(18)	(53)
Total other expense (income)									0	(18)	(53)
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									0	(18)	(53)
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized									0	0	0
Affiliated companies, net of interest income									0	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									0	(18)	(53)
Income tax (expense) benefit									0	0	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									(169)	(319)	(414)
Net income (loss)									(169)	(337)	(467)
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									(169)	(337)	(467)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									(104)	(251)	(467)
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues:
External									6,390	4,678	3,889
Affiliated companies									909	606	540
Net sales and operating revenues									7,299	5,284	4,429
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)									6,290	4,551	3,773
Selling, general, and administrative									669	430	391
Depreciation and amortization									325	153	91
Engineering, research, and development									136	94	77
Restructuring charges and asset impairments									62	20	4
Goodwill and intangible impairment charge									172	3	0
Costs and expenses									7,654	5,251	4,336
Other income (expense)
Non-service pension and postretirement benefit (costs) credits									2	(13)	(18)
Loss on extinguishment of debt										0	(1)
Equity in earnings (losses) of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									3	0	0
Other income (expense), net									34	(29)	7
Total other expense (income)									39	(42)	(12)
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									(316)	(9)	81
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized									(37)	(33)	(20)
Affiliated companies, net of interest income									25	14	15
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									(328)	(28)	76
Income tax (expense) benefit									117	30	10
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									196	135	149
Net income (loss)									(15)	137	235
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									(15)	137	235
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									27	159	282
Nonguarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues:
External									11,060	7,085	5,385
Affiliated companies									1,075	725	640
Net sales and operating revenues									12,135	7,810	6,025
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)									10,606	6,795	5,178
Selling, general, and administrative									463	289	241
Depreciation and amortization									346	192	135
Engineering, research, and development									188	106	81
Restructuring charges and asset impairments									64	97	43
Goodwill and intangible impairment charge									69	0	11
Costs and expenses									11,736	7,479	5,689
Other income (expense)
Non-service pension and postretirement benefit (costs) credits									(13)	(9)	2
Loss on extinguishment of debt										0	0
Equity in earnings (losses) of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									40	18	(1)
Other income (expense), net									19	38	48
Total other expense (income)									46	47	49
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									445	378	385
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized									(29)	(21)	(8)
Affiliated companies, net of interest income									(7)	(7)	(6)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									409	350	371
Income tax (expense) benefit									(131)	(93)	(81)
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net income (loss)									278	257	290
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									114	56	67
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									164	201	223
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									77	24	173
Tenneco Inc. (Parent Company)
Net sales and operating revenues:
External									0	0	0
Affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net sales and operating revenues									0	0	0
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)									0	(13)	0
Selling, general, and administrative									6	33	0
Depreciation and amortization									2	0	0
Engineering, research, and development									0	0	0
Restructuring charges and asset impairments									0	0	0
Goodwill and intangible impairment charge									0	0	0
Costs and expenses									8	20	0
Other income (expense)
Non-service pension and postretirement benefit (costs) credits									0	2	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt										(10)	0
Equity in earnings (losses) of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									0	0	0
Other income (expense), net									0	(1)	0
Total other expense (income)									0	(9)	0
Earnings (loss) before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									(8)	(29)	0
Interest expense:
External, net of interest capitalized									(256)	(94)	(49)
Affiliated companies, net of interest income									(18)	(7)	(9)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									(282)	(130)	(58)
Income tax (expense) benefit									(5)	0	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									(27)	184	265
Net income (loss)									(314)	54	207
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									(314)	54	207
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									$ (353)	$ (31)	$ 331