Cat Financial Financing Activities (Details 7) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Customer Contracts	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Contracts	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) Contracts
Finance Receivables | Customer
Loan and finance lease receivables
Loans and leases receivable, impaired, commitment to lend	$ 11	$ 3
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	574	94	164
Pre-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 454	$ 354	$ 373
Post-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 387	$ 338	$ 360
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	43	24	68
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 15	$ 2	$ 4
Finance Receivables | Customer | North America
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	25	14	34
Pre-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 25	$ 1	$ 12
Post-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 25	$ 1	$ 7
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	17	12	11
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 3	$ 1	$ 1
Finance Receivables | Customer | Europe
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	43	23	8
Pre-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 12	$ 2	$ 7
Post-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 9	$ 2	$ 7
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	16	0	46
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 9	$ 0	$ 2
Finance Receivables | Customer | Asia Pacific
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	31	21	2
Pre-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 29	$ 26	$ 0
Post-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 28	$ 26	$ 0
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	3	0	0
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Finance Receivables | Customer | Mining
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	4	4	51
Pre-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 74	$ 65	$ 185
Post-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 66	$ 65	$ 176
Finance Receivables | Customer | Latin America
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	437	11	51
Pre-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 118	$ 1	$ 32
Post-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 82	$ 2	$ 31
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	7	12	11
Post-TDR Recorded Investment	$ 3	$ 1	$ 1
Finance Receivables | Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	34	21	18
Pre-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 196	$ 259	$ 137
Post-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 177	$ 242	$ 139
Finance Receivables | Dealer
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts (in contracts)	0	0	0
Significant Amount of Amount Disclosed Represented by a Certain Number of Customers [Member] | Customer | Latin America
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
Number of Contracts (in contracts) | Contracts	321
Pre-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 94
Post-TDR Outstanding Recorded Investment	$ 64
TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date
Number of Significant Customers Disclosed | Customer	4