Supplemental Guarantor Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements - Statement of Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	$ (100)	$ 78
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	(158)	0
Proceeds from sale of assets	5	5
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	(379)	(174)
Net proceeds from sale of business	22	0
Other	(1)	2
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	147	66
Net cash used by investing activities	(364)	(101)
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	(20)	(25)
Repayments of term loans and notes	(190)	(28)
Proceeds from term loans and notes	111	9
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	(2)	(1)
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	4,525	2,669
Payments on revolving lines of credit	(4,254)	(2,614)
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	(8)	(7)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	(20)	(28)
Other	(1)	(22)
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	0	0
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	141	(47)
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	11	(11)
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(312)	(81)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	702	318
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	390	237
Reclass and Elims
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	0	(9)
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	0
Proceeds from sale of assets	0	0
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	0	0
Net proceeds from sale of business	0
Other	0	0
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	0	0
Net cash used by investing activities	0	0
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	0	0
Repayments of term loans and notes	0	0
Proceeds from term loans and notes	0	0
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	0	0
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	0	0
Payments on revolving lines of credit	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	0	0
Other	0	0
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	0	9
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	0	9
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	0	0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	0	0
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	(8)	79
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	0
Proceeds from sale of assets	1	1
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	(118)	(77)
Net proceeds from sale of business	6
Other	1	2
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	0	0
Net cash used by investing activities	(110)	(74)
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	0	0
Repayments of term loans and notes	0	(10)
Proceeds from term loans and notes	0	0
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	0	0
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	4,047	2,349
Payments on revolving lines of credit	(3,797)	(2,315)
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	0	0
Other	0	(2)
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	(245)	(32)
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	5	(10)
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(113)	(5)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	329	7
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	216	2
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	(2)	13
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	(158)
Proceeds from sale of assets	4	4
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	(261)	(97)
Net proceeds from sale of business	16
Other	(2)	0
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	147	66
Net cash used by investing activities	(254)	(27)
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	0	0
Repayments of term loans and notes	(139)	(18)
Proceeds from term loans and notes	111	9
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	0	0
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	117	45
Payments on revolving lines of credit	(111)	(38)
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	(8)	(7)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	(20)	(28)
Other	(1)	(20)
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	98	6
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	47	(51)
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	11	(11)
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(198)	(76)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	369	311
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	171	235
Tenneco Inc
Operating Activities
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities	(90)	(5)
Investing Activities
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired	0
Proceeds from sale of assets	0	0
Cash payments for property, plant, and equipment	0	0
Net proceeds from sale of business	0
Other	0	0
Proceeds from deferred purchase price of factored receivables	0	0
Net cash used by investing activities	0	0
Financing Activities
Cash dividends	(20)	(25)
Repayments of term loans and notes	(51)	0
Proceeds from term loans and notes	0	0
Issuance (repurchase) of common shares	(2)	(1)
Borrowings on revolving lines of credit	361	275
Payments on revolving lines of credit	(346)	(261)
Net increase (decrease) in bank overdrafts	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest partners	0	0
Other	0	0
Intercompany dividend payments and net increase (decrease) in intercompany obligations	147	17
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities	89	5
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(1)	0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	4	0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	$ 3	$ 0