Chrysler Repair: 1999 Chrysler Concorde emits smoke, cylinder head gasket, 1999 chrysler concorde

Question
My car emits a tremendous amount of smoke.  I have had 2-3 oil changes without the mention of any problems.  My father told me to have the mechanic replace the PCV valve, but I want to be sure of what I need to relay to my mechanic before spending out any unnecessary funds that I do not have.  
One particular concern is on one particular occassion, I checked the oil level in my car and it was low, so I added about a quart of oil.  I drove approximately 90 miles or so and a passenger detected a burning smell.  When we stopped, my car was smoking under the hood and I lifted the hood and to my surprise there sat my oil cap.  I had forgotten to replace it.  The next morning, I drove to the car wash to rinse the oil off the engine and underneath the hood, refilled the oil and drove back home.  Is there any potential damage that could have occurred by this incident?

Answer
Hi Trinia,
If the oil pressure never dropped and the oil warning light did not come on during that incident then I would not believe that leaving the oil cap off would have damaged the engine internally. But you should always check the level before you add oil and add only enough to bring it to full, letting it have time to drain into the pan before checking the level. The vehicle should be on level ground too when you are checking the level.
Is the smoke bluish in color? If so, that is a sign of oil getting into the combustion chamber due to excessive wear on the rings or valve guides. Is it white? Then that is a sign of water getting into the combustion chambers due to a cylinder head gasket leak. Is the smoke black? That is a sign of poor combustion of the fuel. The color is the key, so have someone else start the car in the morning and look at the color and smell of the smoke coming out the tail pipe.
The PCV valve is easy to replace as it is just held in place by a couple of vacuum hose/connections so it could be easily replaced by Dad if he would be willing to do it.
Let me know what you observe and we can go from there.
Roland
PS Please rate my answer, thanks