Supplemental Guarantor Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements - Statement of Comprehensive Income Loss (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Net sales and operating revenues —
External									$ 8,599	$ 8,209	$ 8,420
Affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net sales and operating revenues	$ 2,155	$ 2,096	$ 2,212	$ 2,136	$ 2,031	$ 2,025	$ 2,130	$ 2,023	8,599	8,209	8,420
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	1,790	1,741	1,810	1,770	1,688	1,707	1,764	1,686	7,111	6,845	7,025
Engineering, research, and development									154	146	169
Selling, general, and administrative									589	491	519
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles									212	203	208
Costs and expenses									8,066	7,685	7,921
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables									(5)	(4)	(4)
Other income (expense)									0	(1)	(3)
Total other income (expense)									(5)	(5)	(7)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	75	152	177	124	128	116	155	120	528	519	492
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)									92	67	91
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)									0	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									436	452	401
Income tax expense (benefit)									3	149	131
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net income (loss)									433	303	270
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									70	56	44
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ 40	$ 180	$ 86	$ 57	$ 68	$ 52	$ 78	$ 49	363	247	226
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									363	127	41
Reclass & Elims
Net sales and operating revenues —
External									0	0	0
Affiliated companies									(1,273)	(969)	(1,005)
Net sales and operating revenues									(1,273)	(969)	(1,005)
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)									(1,273)	(969)	(1,005)
Engineering, research, and development									0	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles									0	0	0
Costs and expenses									(1,273)	(969)	(1,005)
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables									0	0	0
Other income (expense)									(15)	(48)	(38)
Total other income (expense)									(15)	(48)	(38)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									(15)	(48)	(38)
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)									0	0	0
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)									0	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									(15)	(48)	(38)
Income tax expense (benefit)										0	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									(629)	(402)	(451)
Net income (loss)									(644)	(450)	(489)
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									(644)	(450)	(489)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									(644)	(450)	(489)
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues —
External									3,865	3,711	3,727
Affiliated companies									526	411	403
Net sales and operating revenues									4,391	4,122	4,130
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)									3,715	3,442	3,391
Engineering, research, and development									76	70	81
Selling, general, and administrative									311	193	211
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles									86	87	86
Costs and expenses									4,188	3,792	3,769
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables									(2)	(1)	0
Other income (expense)									(9)	41	26
Total other income (expense)									(11)	40	26
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									192	370	387
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)									(2)	(2)	(1)
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)									(12)	54	73
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									206	318	315
Income tax expense (benefit)									(95)	43	94
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									170	84	129
Net income (loss)									471	359	350
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									471	359	350
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									471	359	350
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues —
External									4,734	4,498	4,693
Affiliated companies									747	558	602
Net sales and operating revenues									5,481	5,056	5,295
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)									4,669	4,372	4,639
Engineering, research, and development									78	76	88
Selling, general, and administrative									277	295	302
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles									126	116	122
Costs and expenses									5,150	4,859	5,151
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables									(3)	(3)	(4)
Other income (expense)									24	6	9
Total other income (expense)									21	3	5
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									352	200	149
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)									4	3	4
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)									7	(56)	(75)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									341	253	220
Income tax expense (benefit)									98	106	37
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net income (loss)									243	147	183
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									70	56	44
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									173	91	139
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									173	91	139
Tenneco Inc. (Parent Company)
Net sales and operating revenues —
External									0	0	0
Affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net sales and operating revenues									0	0	0
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)									0	0	0
Engineering, research, and development									0	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative									1	3	6
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles									0	0	0
Costs and expenses									1	3	6
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables									0	0	0
Other income (expense)									0	0	0
Total other income (expense)									0	0	0
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									(1)	(3)	(6)
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)									90	66	88
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)									5	2	2
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									(96)	(71)	(96)
Income tax expense (benefit)										0	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies									459	318	322
Net income (loss)									363	247	226
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests										0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									363	247	226
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									$ 363	$ 127	$ 41