Financing Activities (Details 5) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) contracts	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($) contracts	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) contracts	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($) contracts	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	31	75	78	123
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 110	$ 175	$ 242	$ 294
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 96	$ 173	$ 225	$ 280
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	5	15	11	29
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 1	$ 1	$ 3
Remaining commitments	$ 0		$ 0		$ 0
Customer | North America
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	6	20	10	24
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 9	$ 1	$ 11
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 3	$ 1	$ 5
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	5	3	10	10
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 0	$ 1	$ 1
Customer | Europe
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	4	0	23	8
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 0	$ 2	$ 7
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 0	$ 2	$ 7
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	5	0	12
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 1	$ 0	$ 2
Customer | Asia/Pacific
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	1	0	21	0
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 1	$ 0	$ 26	$ 0
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 1	$ 0	$ 26	$ 0
Customer | Mining
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	2	45	2	47
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 15	$ 122	$ 15	$ 165
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 14	$ 124	$ 14	$ 157
Customer | Latin America
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	10	3	10	31
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 1	$ 0	$ 1	$ 31
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 2	$ 0	$ 2	$ 30
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	7	1	7
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	8	7	12	13
Pre-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 93	$ 44	$ 197	$ 80
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 79	$ 46	$ 180	$ 81
Dealer
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	0	0	0
Caterpillar Purchased Receivables
Finance receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts | contracts	0	0	0	0