Financing Activities (Details 5) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015 contracts	Mar. 31, 2014 contracts	Dec. 31, 2014
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts	5	18
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 84	$ 49
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	81	47
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts	5	14
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	1	2
Customer \| North America
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts	3	3
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	1	2
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	1	2
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts	4	7
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	1	1
Customer \| Europe
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts	0	3
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	0	5
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	0	5
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts	0	7
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	0	1
Customer \| Mining
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts	0	1
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	0	11
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	0	10
Customer \| Latin America
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts	0	10
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	0	30
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	0	29
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts	1	0
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	0	0
Customer \| Caterpillar Power Finance
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts	2	1
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	83	1
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	80	1
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Remaining commitments	$ 0		$ 0
Dealer
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts	0	0

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- Definition

Number of financing receivables that have been modified by troubled debt restructurings.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 310

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 33

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35738203&loc=SL6953676-111524

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Post-modification amount of investment in financing receivables modified by troubled debt restructurings.

+ References

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- Definition

Pre-modification amount of investment in financing receivables modified by troubled debt restructurings.

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- Definition

Number of financing receivables that have been modified by troubled debt restructurings within the previous 12 months and for which there was a payment default.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 310

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 34

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35738203&loc=SL6953682-111524

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Amount of investment related to financing receivables modified by troubled debt restructurings within the previous 12 months, for which there was a payment default.

+ References

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- Definition

Reflects the unfunded portion of contractual agreements to lend funds to borrowers for loans whose terms have been modified by troubled debt restructuring.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 310

-SubTopic 40

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25495931&loc=d3e18794-111554

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