Truck is a 98 F150 4.6 with 153k miles. The other day I noticed a ticking pulley (pretty sure it's the A/C) and when I popped my hood to take a listen (after a 3 or so mile drive) I noticed my top radiator hose was cold and very very firm. Opening the overflow cap relieved the pressure but coolant still wasn't flowing.

I drained the system enough to pull the t-stat and checked it and it's opening just fine. The water pump appears to be working since it drew the overflow level down just fine when I refilled the system after putting the t-stat back in. Head gasket leak seems unlikely since I have no coolant in the oil or vice a versa. The truck warms up to normal operating temps and isn't overheating. I have heat out the vents also. Any ideas?

Also, is there any way to rig the serpentine belt to bypass the A/C entirely? From my searching people seem to think it's possible but I've never seen a definitive answer from someone who's actually done it.