Long-Term Debt, Short-Term Debt, and Financing Arrangements - Financing Arrangements (Detail)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Commitments	$ 2,229,000,000
Borrowings	729,000,000
Letters of Credit	0
Available	1,500,000,000
Tenneco Inc. revolving credit agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Commitments	1,600,000,000
Borrowings	244,000,000
Letters of Credit	0
Available	1,356,000,000
Tenneco Inc. tranche A term facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Commitments	390,000,000
Borrowings	390,000,000
Letters of Credit	0
Available	0
Subsidiaries’ credit agreements
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Commitments	239,000,000
Borrowings	95,000,000
Letters of Credit	0
Available	$ 144,000,000

Line of credit facility letters of credit outstanding.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19(b),22(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount of borrowing capacity currently available under the credit facility (current borrowing capacity less the amount of borrowings outstanding).

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

Carrying value as of the balance sheet date, including the current and noncurrent portions, of collateralized debt obligations (with maturities initially due after one year or beyond the operating cycle, if longer). Such obligations include mortgage loans, chattel loans, and any other borrowings secured by assets of the borrower.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(22))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

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