Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Details) claim in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) claim	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Lease Facility
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Accrued environmental liabilities	$ 11,000,000	$ 8,000,000
Number of facilities \| Facility		2
Asbestos Issue [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Asbestos claims accrued	$ 78,000,000	$ 0
Asbestos claims pending \| claim	25
Time horizon used to estimate asbestos liability	15 years
Probable recovery receivable	$ 51,000,000
Damages from Product Defects [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Probable recovery receivable		4,000,000
Other product liabilities, non-asbestos	$ 1,000,000	$ 5,000,000
Property Lease Guarantee [Member] \| Structural Products [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Guarantee of lease obligations, number of leases assigned \| Lease		3
Guaranteed annual lease payments through June 2025 related to divested business		$ 6,000,000

Guarantee Obligations, Other Contracts

No definition available.

Name:	dan_GuaranteeObligationsOtherContracts
Namespace Prefix:	dan_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Guarantee of Lease Obligations, Number of Leases Assigned

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dan_GuaranteeOfLeaseObligationsNumberOfLeasesAssigned
Namespace Prefix:	dan_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Time horizon used to estimate loss contingency liability.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dan_LossContingencyAccrualTimeHorizonAssumption
Namespace Prefix:	dan_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of facilities.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	dan_NumberOfFacilities
Namespace Prefix:	dan_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Total costs accrued as of the balance sheet date for environmental loss contingencies.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14326-108349

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 410
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 7
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6393242&loc=d3e13207-110859

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 25
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6395460&loc=d3e13647-108346

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccrualForEnvironmentalLossContingencies
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- 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

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of loss contingency liability.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyAccrualAtCarryingValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Present value of the estimated aggregate accrual for damages arising from third-party use of the entity's product(s) or process(es) as of the balance sheet date (if the accrual qualifies for discounting).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 5.Y.Q1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27011672&loc=d3e149879-122751

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyAccrualProductLiabilityNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of pending claims pertaining to a loss contingency.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of receivable related to a loss contingency accrual. For example, an insurance recovery receivable.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 460
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6851643&loc=d3e12053-110248

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyReceivable
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis=us-gaap_AsbestosIssueMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis=us-gaap_DamagesFromProductDefectsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis=us-gaap_PropertyLeaseGuaranteeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=dan_StructuralProductsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: