Supplemental Guarantor Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements - Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	$ 2,292	$ 2,136
Affiliated companies	0	0
Net sales and operating revenues	2,292	2,136
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	1,925	1,770
Engineering, research, and development	39	39
Selling, general, and administrative	148	147
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	52	54
Total costs and expenses	2,164	2,010
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	(1)	(1)
Other income (expense)	0	(1)
Total other income (expense)	(1)	(2)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	127	124
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	15	18
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	112	106
Income tax expense	34	34
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	0	0
Net income	78	72
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	15	15
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	63	57
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	91	84
Reclass and Elims
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	0	0
Affiliated companies	(326)	(317)
Net sales and operating revenues	(326)	(317)
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	(326)	(317)
Engineering, research, and development	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	0	0
Total costs and expenses	(326)	(317)
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	0	0
Other income (expense)	0	0
Total other income (expense)	0	0
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	0	0
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	0	0
Income tax expense	0	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	(110)	(103)
Net income	(110)	(103)
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	(110)	(103)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	(110)	(103)
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	1,018	996
Affiliated companies	144	127
Net sales and operating revenues	1,162	1,123
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	992	949
Engineering, research, and development	20	20
Selling, general, and administrative	75	68
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	21	21
Total costs and expenses	1,108	1,058
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	0	0
Other income (expense)	(8)	(6)
Total other income (expense)	(8)	(6)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	46	59
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	0	0
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	(3)	(3)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	49	62
Income tax expense	8	13
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	30	27
Net income	71	76
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	71	76
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	71	76
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	1,274	1,140
Affiliated companies	182	190
Net sales and operating revenues	1,456	1,330
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	1,259	1,138
Engineering, research, and development	19	19
Selling, general, and administrative	73	79
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	31	33
Total costs and expenses	1,382	1,269
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	(1)	(1)
Other income (expense)	8	5
Total other income (expense)	7	4
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	81	65
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	0	0
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	1	2
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	80	63
Income tax expense	26	21
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	0	0
Net income	54	42
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	15	15
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	39	27
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	39	27
Tenneco Inc
Net sales and operating revenues —
External	0	0
Affiliated companies	0
Net sales and operating revenues	0	0
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	0	0
Engineering, research, and development	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization of other intangibles	0	0
Total costs and expenses	0	0
Other income (expense)
Loss on sale of receivables	0	0
Other income (expense)	0	0
Total other income (expense)	0	0
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)	15	18
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)	2	1
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests, and equity in net income from affiliated companies	(17)	(19)
Income tax expense	0	0
Equity in net income (loss) from affiliated companies	80	76
Net income	63	57
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	63	57
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ 91	$ 84