Discontinued Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Earnings (Loss), net of tax	$ (55)	$ 46
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Additional Disclosures [Abstract]
Cash from operating activities	(172)	101
Cash from investing activities	3,894	(20)
Combined, Network Power and Power Generation, motors and Drives Business [Member]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Net sales	940	1,386
Cost of sales	626	911
SG&A	242	345
Other deductions (income), net	(421)	60
Earnings (Loss) before income taxes	493	70
Income taxes	548	24
Earnings (Loss), net of tax	(55)	46
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Balance Sheet Disclosures [Abstract]
Accounts receivables	259				$ 1,492
Inventories	185				578
Other current assets	26				130
Property, plant & equipment, net	237				611
Goodwill	528				2,691
Other noncurrent assets	49				528
Total assets held-for-sale	1,284				6,030
Accounts payable	155				840
Other current liabilities	134				761
Deferred taxes and other noncurrent liabilities	89				326
Total liabilities held-for-sale	378				1,927
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Additional Disclosures [Abstract]
Cash from operating activities	(172)	101
Cash from investing activities	3,894	(20)
Net earnings from operations after tax	14	68
Repatriation of Sales Proceeds	144
Benefit from ceasing depreciation on assets from discontinued operations	27
Separation costs related to portfolio repositioning actions		22
Cash payments for taxes & fees related to discontinued businesses	139	24
Network Power Systems Business [Member] | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from Divestiture of Business	4,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Net sales	630	1,048
Cost of sales	394	650
SG&A	180	279
Other deductions (income), net	(461)	48
Earnings (Loss) before income taxes	517	71
Income taxes	554	24
Earnings (Loss), net of tax	(37)	47
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Balance Sheet Disclosures [Abstract]
Accounts receivables					1,202
Inventories					381
Other current assets					108
Property, plant & equipment, net					352
Goodwill					2,111
Other noncurrent assets					473
Total assets held-for-sale					4,627
Accounts payable					664
Other current liabilities					620
Deferred taxes and other noncurrent liabilities					227
Total liabilities held-for-sale					1,511
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Additional Disclosures [Abstract]
Cash from operating activities	(173)	83
Cash from investing activities	3,903	(8)
Gain on sale of business, net of tax	86
Gain on sale of business, pretax	465
Power Generation, Motors and Drives Business [Member] | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Agreed-Upon Purchase Price of Business	1,200
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Income Statement Disclosures [Abstract]
Net sales	310	338
Cost of sales	232	261
SG&A	62	66
Other deductions (income), net	40	12
Earnings (Loss) before income taxes	(24)	(1)
Income taxes	(6)	0
Earnings (Loss), net of tax	(18)	(1)
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Balance Sheet Disclosures [Abstract]
Accounts receivables	259				290
Inventories	185				197
Other current assets	26				22
Property, plant & equipment, net	237				259
Goodwill	528				580
Other noncurrent assets	49				55
Total assets held-for-sale	1,284				1,403
Accounts payable	155				176
Other current liabilities	134				141
Deferred taxes and other noncurrent liabilities	89				99
Total liabilities held-for-sale	378				$ 416
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Additional Disclosures [Abstract]
Cash from operating activities	1	18
Cash from investing activities	(9)	$ (12)
Write down of business to sales price less cost to selll	$ 38
Scenario, Forecast [Member] | Combined, Network Power and Power Generation, motors and Drives Business [Member]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Additional Disclosures [Abstract]
Expected income tax payments upon completion of both transactions				$ 600
Scenario, Forecast [Member] | Power Generation, Motors and Drives Business [Member]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Additional Disclosures [Abstract]
Income tax expense expected upon completion of transaction.			$ 100