Supplemental Guarantor Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements - Statement of Comprehensive Income Loss (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Net sales and operating revenues —
External									$ 11,763	$ 9,274	$ 8,597
Affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net sales and operating revenues	$ 4,278	$ 2,371	$ 2,533	$ 2,581	$ 2,389	$ 2,273	$ 2,314	$ 2,298	11,763	9,274	8,597
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales	3,698	2,014	2,157	2,202	2,019	1,912	1,949	1,932	10,071	7,812	7,126
Selling, general, and administrative									794	638	514
Depreciation and amortization									345	226	213
Engineering, research, and development									204	158	153
Goodwill impairment charge									3	11	0
Costs and expenses									11,417	8,845	8,006
Other expense (income)
Loss on sale of receivables									16	5	5
Non-service postretirement benefit costs									20	16	84
Loss on extinguishment of debt									10	1	24
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									(18)	1	0
Other expense (income), net									12	(2)	(1)
Total other expense (income)									40	21	112
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests	(31)	109	109	119	132	131	23	122	306	408	479
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)									132	72	68
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)									0	0	0
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									174	336	411
Income tax expense (benefit)									63	71	(4)
Equity in net income from affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net income (loss)									111	265	415
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.									56	67	68
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ (109)	$ 57	$ 47	$ 60	$ 62	$ 80	$ (5)	$ 61	55	198	347
Comprehensive Income									(99)	319	346
Reclass & Elims
Net sales and operating revenues —
External									0	0	0
Affiliated companies									(1,331)	(1,180)	(1,273)
Net sales and operating revenues									(1,331)	(1,180)	(1,273)
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales									(1,331)	(1,180)	(1,273)
Selling, general, and administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Engineering, research, and development									0	0	0
Goodwill impairment charge									0	0
Costs and expenses									(1,331)	(1,180)	(1,273)
Other expense (income)
Loss on sale of receivables									0	0	0
Non-service postretirement benefit costs									0	0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt									0	0	0
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									0	0
Other expense (income), net									18	53	15
Total other expense (income)									18	53	15
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									(18)	(53)	(15)
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									(18)	(53)	(15)
Income tax expense (benefit)									0	0	0
Equity in net income from affiliated companies									(319)	(414)	(618)
Net income (loss)									(337)	(467)	(633)
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.									0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									(337)	(467)	(633)
Comprehensive Income									(251)	(467)	(633)
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues —
External									4,678	3,889	3,863
Affiliated companies									606	540	526
Net sales and operating revenues									5,284	4,429	4,389
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales									4,570	3,771	3,724
Selling, general, and administrative									384	352	235
Depreciation and amortization									153	90	87
Engineering, research, and development									95	77	76
Goodwill impairment charge									3	0
Costs and expenses									5,205	4,290	4,122
Other expense (income)
Loss on sale of receivables									8	2	2
Non-service postretirement benefit costs									13	18	83
Loss on extinguishment of debt									0	1	24
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									0	0
Other expense (income), net									29	(2)	8
Total other expense (income)									50	19	117
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									29	120	150
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)									26	18	(26)
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)									(14)	(15)	(12)
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									17	117	188
Income tax expense (benefit)									(30)	(10)	(101)
Equity in net income from affiliated companies									135	149	166
Net income (loss)									182	276	455
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.									0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									182	276	455
Comprehensive Income									159	282	464
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Net sales and operating revenues —
External									7,085	5,385	4,734
Affiliated companies									725	640	747
Net sales and operating revenues									7,810	6,025	5,481
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales									6,845	5,221	4,675
Selling, general, and administrative									377	286	278
Depreciation and amortization									192	136	126
Engineering, research, and development									109	81	77
Goodwill impairment charge									0	11
Costs and expenses									7,523	5,735	5,156
Other expense (income)
Loss on sale of receivables									8	3	3
Non-service postretirement benefit costs									9	(2)	1
Loss on extinguishment of debt									0	0	0
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									(18)	1
Other expense (income), net									(36)	(53)	(24)
Total other expense (income)									(37)	(51)	(20)
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									324	341	345
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)									12	5	4
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)									7	6	7
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									305	330	334
Income tax expense (benefit)									93	81	97
Equity in net income from affiliated companies									0	0	0
Net income (loss)									212	249	237
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.									56	67	68
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									156	182	169
Comprehensive Income									24	173	159
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									(13)	0	0
Selling, general, and administrative									33	0	1
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Engineering, research, and development									0	0	0
Goodwill impairment charge									0	0
Costs and expenses									20	0	1
Other expense (income)
Loss on sale of receivables									0	0	0
Non-service postretirement benefit costs									(2)	0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt									10	0	0
Equity in (earnings) losses of nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax									0	0
Other expense (income), net									1	0	0
Total other expense (income)									9	0	0
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests									(29)	0	(1)
Interest expense —
External (net of interest capitalized)									94	49	90
Affiliated companies (net of interest income)									7	9	5
Earnings (loss) before income taxes, noncontrolling interests and equity in net income from affiliated companies									(130)	(58)	(96)
Income tax expense (benefit)									0	0	0
Equity in net income from affiliated companies									184	265	452
Net income (loss)									54	207	356
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.									0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Tenneco Inc.									54	207	356
Comprehensive Income									$ (31)	$ 331	$ 356