CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME - 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
Revenues
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 (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)	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 pension and 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									132	72	68
Earnings before income taxes and noncontrolling interests									174	336	411
Income tax expense (benefit)									63	71	(4)
Net income									111	265	415
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									56	67	68
Net income attributable to Tenneco Inc.	$ (109)	$ 57	$ 47	$ 60	$ 62	$ 80	$ (5)	$ 61	$ 55	$ 198	$ 347
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding —
Basic (in shares)									58,625,087	52,796,184	55,939,135
Diluted (in shares)									58,758,732	53,026,911	56,407,436
Basic earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ (1.35)	$ 1.11	$ 0.92	$ 1.17	$ 1.19	$ 1.53	$ (0.09)	$ 1.13	$ 0.93	$ 3.75	$ 6.20
Diluted earnings per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ (1.35)	$ 1.11	$ 0.92	$ 1.17	$ 1.19	$ 1.53	$ (0.09)	$ 1.12	$ 0.93	$ 3.73	$ 6.15