Revision of Previously Issued Financial Statements Consolidated Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ 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
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Net sales and operating revenues	$ 2,155	$ 2,096	$ 2,212	$ 2,136	$ 2,031	$ 2,020	$ 2,118	$ 2,012	$ 8,599	$ 8,181	$ 8,381
Cost of sales	1,794	1,743	1,816	1,770	1,687	1,707	1,757	1,677	7,123	6,828	6,989
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	$ 71	$ 150	$ 171	$ 124	$ 129	$ 111	$ 150	$ 118	516	508	489
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Income Taxes, Noncontrolling Interest									424	441	398
Income tax expense									0	146	131
Net income									424	295	267
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.									$ 68	$ 54	$ 42
Basic earnings per share of common stock	$ 0.70	$ 3.22	$ 1.44	$ 1.00	$ 1.19	$ 0.84	$ 1.24	$ 0.79	$ 6.36	$ 4.05	$ 3.70
Diluted earnings per share of common stock	$ 0.69	$ 3.19	$ 1.43	$ 0.99	$ 1.18	$ 0.83	$ 1.23	$ 0.78	$ 6.31	$ 4.01	$ 3.64
As Previously Reported
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Net sales and operating revenues										$ 8,209	$ 8,420
Cost of sales									$ 7,111	6,845	7,025
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									528	519	492
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Income Taxes, Noncontrolling Interest									436	452	401
Income tax expense									3	149
Net income									433	303	270
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.									$ 70	$ 56	$ 44
Basic earnings per share of common stock									$ 6.49	$ 4.14	$ 3.72
Diluted earnings per share of common stock									$ 6.44	$ 4.11	$ 3.66
Adjustment
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Net sales and operating revenues										$ (28)	$ (39)
Cost of sales									$ 12	(17)	(36)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									(12)	(11)	(3)
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Income Taxes, Noncontrolling Interest									(12)	(11)	(3)
Income tax expense									(3)	(3)
Net income									(9)	(8)	(3)
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.									$ (2)	$ (2)	$ (2)
Basic earnings per share of common stock									$ (0.13)	$ (0.09)	$ (0.02)
Diluted earnings per share of common stock									$ (0.13)	$ (0.10)	$ (0.02)