Summary of Accounting Policies (Details Textual) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 Y	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2007	Dec. 31, 2011 Foreign currency forward contracts [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Federal [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 State [Member]	Aug. 31, 2011 Tenneco Automotive Thailand Limited [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Australia Reporting Unit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Australia Reporting Unit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Building Improvements [Member] Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Machinery and Equipment [Member] Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Software Development [Member] Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum [Member]
Goodwill And Intangibles Net (Textual) [Abstract]
Range of percentages of investments, equity method investments														50.00%	20.00%
Goodwill impairment charge	$ 11								$ 11	$ 11
Finite useful life of intangible assets, Minimum	5												3
Finite useful life of intangible assets, Maximum	50												12
Useful life of plant, property and equipment, minimum											10	3
Useful life of plant, property and equipment, maximum											50	25
Summary of Accounting Policies (Additional Textual) [Abstract]
Additional equity interest purchased in joint venture								25.00%
Payment to acquire additional interest in joint venture								4
Equity ownership percentage before additional acquisition								75.00%
Equity ownership percentage after additional acquisition								100.00%
NOL's expiration period						tax years ending in 2021 through 2029	tax years ending through 2029
Net asset position					1
Summary of Accounting Policies (Textual) [Abstract]
Amortization of intangibles	2	2	2
Estimated amortization of intangible assets, 2012	3
Estimated amortization of intangible assets, 2013	4
Estimated amortization of intangible assets, 2014	4
Estimated amortization of intangible assets, 2015	3
Estimated amortization of intangible assets, 2016	2
Capitalization of indefinite life purchased trademarks				3
Short-term and long-term accounts receivable outstanding	959	823
Allowance for doubtful accounts on short-term and long-term accounts receivable	17	20
Short and Long-term notes receivable outstanding	4	2
Allowance for doubtful accounts on short-term and long-term notes receivable	0	0
Unbilled pre-production design and development costs	19	15
Original Equipment tools and dies, owned	38	38
In-process tools and dies built for original equipment customers	49	46
Capitalized software development costs, net of amortization	58	53
Amortization of software development costs	15	18	22
Income tax expense	88	69	13
U.S. Federal income tax rate	35.00%	35.00%	35.00%
Net tax benefit, due to net operating loss	7
Substrate sales revenue	1,640	1,297	966
Engineering, research and development expenses, net of customer reimbursements	133	117	97
Customer reimbursements for engineering, research and development expenses	119	110	104
Advertising and promotion expenses	61	59	50
Foreign currency transaction losses	3		4
Foreign currency transaction losses		Less than $1 million
Restricted Net Assets	137
Deferred tax assets related to NOL's	90
Impact on earnings related to reversal of valuation allowance	147
Deferred tax assets net of valuation allowance in certain foreign jurisdictions	$ 23