CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Revenues
Net sales and operating revenues	$ 2,031	$ 1,963	$ 2,067	$ 1,903	$ 1,753	$ 1,778	$ 1,920	$ 1,912		$ 7,964	$ 7,363	$ 7,205
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	1,703	1,691	1,736	1,604	1,474	1,494	1,595	1,607		6,734	6,170	6,037
Goodwill impairment charge									11	0	0	11
Engineering, research, and development										144	126	133
Selling, general, and administrative										453	427	428
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles										205	205	207
Costs and expenses										7,536	6,928	6,816
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables										(4)	(4)	(5)
Other expense										0	(3)	(5)
Total other income (expense)										(4)	(7)	(10)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	118	72	141	93	84	111	137	96		424	428	379
Interest expense (net of interest capitalized of $4 million each for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively)										80	105	108
Earnings before income taxes and noncontrolling interests										344	323	271
Income tax expense										122	19	88
Net income										222	304	183
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests										39	29	26
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ 54	$ 12	$ 63	$ 54	$ 33	$ 125	$ 87	$ 30		$ 183	$ 275	$ 157
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding —
Basic (in shares)										60,474,492	59,985,677	59,884,139
Diluted (in shares)										61,594,062	61,083,510	61,520,160
Basic earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.90	$ 0.19	$ 1.04	$ 0.90	$ 0.55	$ 2.09	$ 1.45	$ 0.50		$ 3.03	$ 4.58	$ 2.62
Diluted earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.88	$ 0.19	$ 1.02	$ 0.88	$ 0.54	$ 2.05	$ 1.42	$ 0.49		$ 2.97	$ 4.50	$ 2.55